


I've tried to fight our energy, but everytime I think I'm free

by Lolistar92



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Military Police, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Anal Sex, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Angst with a Happy Ending, Drama & Romance, Established Relationship, Fights, Fluff and Angst, Frottage, Getting Together, Half-Vampires, Happy Ending, How Do I Tag, Idiots in Love, M/M, MAMA Era Powers (EXO), Magic, Manhandling, Miscommunication, Mutual Pining, Non-Consensual Touching, Oral Sex, POV Kim Jongdae | Chen, Plot, Polyamory, Self-Sacrifice, Serious Discussions, Sex Magic, Smut, Soul Bond, Spitroasting, Supernatural Elements, Threesome - M/M/M, True Mates, Unrequited Love, Urban Fantasy, Vampires, Violence, magical beasts, not as dark as it sounds, perceived infidelity, please do read the a/n for brief warnings and worldbuilding explanations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-01
Updated: 2019-12-01
Packaged: 2020-12-24 14:08:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 51,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21100733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lolistar92/pseuds/Lolistar92
Summary: “Oh,” Jongdae says weakly, feeling the world spin around him.“Jongdae?” Baekhyun says in panic, probably feeling the stutter in their bond.“He’s here,” Jongdae whispers to Baekhyun, feeling incredibly floaty, untouched by the urgency of the situation around him. He’s in his husband’s arms and their soulmate is here.Their soulmate –{EXO MONSTERFEST 2019, self prompt}





	I've tried to fight our energy, but everytime I think I'm free

**Author's Note:**

> -breathes heavily- 
> 
> Okay, so here I am, 50k into a fic I never saw coming. This was a self prompt I had played around with on my own at the very beginning of 2019, but back then it was only 8k. The fest gave me direction on where I wanted to take it, which I appreciate very much. 
> 
> Thank you to the Mods for hosting such an awesome event. Thank you to my bestest gal pal, H for all her help from brainstorming, to cheerleading to betaing. Thank you to Cocobunki for betaing! <3 <3 <3 
> 
> I truly hope you guys enjoy this fic. I am particularly proud of it, especially the fight scene, and it's my biggest project in this fandom. I know we're small but all kudos and comments mean so much to me! Thank you for choosing to read my baby! <3
> 
> Title taken from Ariana Grande's 'Everytime'
> 
> **[SPOILER] [SPOILER][SPOILER] Possible trigger warning:** there is a brief moment where it mentioned in a non-explicit way that Baekhyun and Chanyeol were fucking next to Jongdae while touching him, in a way that skims 'fuck or die'. Jongdae doesn't take issue with the touch, but he does get upset with the perceived infidelity. Please be warned. It was not my intention to depict it such a way but I cannot predict how the readers will view that scene, so take care of yourself. This AU is also heavy on **sexual** bonding. It was a silly oversight on my end to forget to include platonic bonds in my world-building but by the time I was aware of it, I was too deep in to re-write everything. If I continue with this verse I will try to retro-fit that into my editing/sequel. 
> 
> ** 📚📑Glossary of terms📚📑 can be found at the bottom of this doc if you ever feel confused! :) **

Baekhyun is incredibly lucky that Jongdae had already finished making dinner because if he was wielding a knife right now, it would be embedded in Baekhyun’s skull.

As it is, all that happens is Jongdae instinctively flinches at the sound of the door being suddenly slammed open and closed. His knees bang against the table where the food sits, spilling his water. His chair makes a terrible screeching sound as he pushes back to leap to his feet. Jongdae reaches for his chopsticks the same moment someone barrels into the kitchen, and only sharpened reflexes from spending nearly half their lifetime together allows Jongdae to recognise the footsteps as Baekhyun's. He puts the chopsticks down glaring at the doorway.

“Baek, what in the fuck!?” Jongdae yells, hand over his heart and trying to calm it down when his best friend’s face comes into view. He grips his chopsticks tight and has a split-second thought of throwing them at Baekhyun just in revenge for the scare.

Except when he looks at Baekhyun’s face he ends up dropping them instead.

Instantly, he rushes forward, heart rate increasing to the point where he thinks it’s going to burst when he sees blood all over the front of Baekhyun’s white shirt.

Baekhyun’s face is completely pale, eyes wild and scared. As soon as Jongdae comes near, his best friend collapses into his arms. Jongdae has to immediately readjust his weight, dropping them into a controlled fall.

Jongdae goes into emergency training mode immediately.

“Baekhyun, are you hurt?” Jongdae asks, moving his hands around to check for injury. He checks Baekhyun’s head first, trying to swallow past his panic as Baekhyun trembles in his arms.

Baekhyun grabs his hand just as Jongdae’s about to check over Baekhyun’s torso. “Not hurt, Dae,” Baekhyun says weakly, a familiar self-deprecating laugh tagged on at the end of his statement.

Jongdae grips Baekhyun’s hand back just as tightly. “You say _as you’re covered in blood_,” Jongdae retorts.

Baekhyun’s grip becomes crushing and Jongdae can’t suppress his wince. Baekhyun doesn’t seem to catch it, face buried in Jongdae’s chest. “Not my blood.”

Okay, then.

Taking a deep breath and forcing himself to calm down, Jongdae assess the situation.

Baekhyun’s wearing his white SSDF – Seoul Supernatural Defense Force – shirt he normally wears after he finishes his shift. Jongdae had been expecting him home nearly two hours ago but it’s pretty normal for Baekhyun to take his time getting home. Jongdae lets him be because it’s impossible to try and get Baekhyun to commit to the mundaneness of a schedule. Starting tomorrow, that sure as fuck is going to change.

Upon closer inspection, Jongdae realizes Baekhyun is telling the truth. The blood splatter is closest up by the collar of his shirt, large enough to be seen but would also showcase some sort of wound which Jongdae cannot find. There isn’t any other indication of an injury except –

“Is that a bloody handprint on your ass!?” Jongdae asks incredulously, voice squeaking as he peers over and notices, that yes, that is definitely a freakishly large handprint in the dead center of Baekhyun’s ass.

He grabs Baekhyun by the shoulder and heaves him up, looking into Baekhyun’s eyes. Now with a second look, Jongdae can see that Baekhyun’s eyes aren’t exactly wild from fright, but rather, there is a literal lightshow going off behind his pupils.

“Baekhyun, what the fuck is going on?”

Baekhyun smiles weakly but betrays himself with a small sob crumpling back into Jongdae’s chest.

“Found our soulmate, Dae,” Baekhyun says, words barely audible between the distressed sounds that Baekhyun is making, pulling at Jongdae’s heartstrings. “He’s a vampire.”

Jongdae looks down at his best friend, soulmate, and husband in shock.

Well, fuck.

~✧*💎* ✧*⚡*✧*🔥*✧~

Core bonds, or soul bonds as they are popularly referred to, occur only between people that possess a core – a link to the Earth’s magic. Those that possess a core are born with a mark on their body with another, grayed out, core mark. That secondary core mark indicates the person on Earth that exists to best balance the flow and use of magic within a person. As in Jongdae’s case, he actually has two secondary marks – two potential soulmates. Once a holder’s partner is found, the core marks that were previous gray will turn into the color that best represents the holder’s magical affinity, and the bond will initiate. 

Colloquially, core bonds became known as soul bonds because of the high rate of partnerships that occur when a bond is started. After all, it’s hard not to start a serious relationship with someone you need to fuck to establish a bond. 

And that is the thing about soul bonds. At their very nature they are primal, sexual, forms of linking two people together. Once contact is initiated between the partners, intense energy is created to kick start the bond – a literal connection that joins the cores together. In this process, each core holder gets stronger with the influx of a new source of energy. The benefits of a bond almost always outweigh the negatives. 

Except for the first stage. That is when both partners become overwhelmed by the energy generated by the connection and lose themselves in trying to get the bond to settle. Luckily, most bond mates can sense who their intended is before first contact is needed. However, it’s likened to a siren call, enticing for all it promises. It’s resistible, a biological failsafe to keep bonded partners from initiating their bond at an inopportune time, to give them a chance to decide if they want this bond. Most choose to sink headfirst into the bond and, if they’re open and receptive to the call, often end up brimming with the energy ready to initiate the bond. 

But Jongdae has never seen a reaction like this. 

Baekhyun is almost completely in the first state of bond initiation and Jongdae doesn’t know why. The most he could get out of Baekhyun was the assurance that the bond hadn’t started. Which doesn’t help Jongdae when Baekhyun more or less crashes. 

Jongdae spends the entire night looking after Baekhyun who alternates between heavy sleep and bursts of adrenaline that wake him up and have him trying to crawl out of bed with restless energy. Sometime around 4AM, his body seems to realize that the bond it’s looking for isn’t going to snap into place, allowing Jongdae a few hours to sleep with his husband cradled in his arms.

In the morning, he has to call in sick on behalf of Baekhyun, but HR doesn’t seem surprised. Something about that doesn’t quite sit right but Jongdae doesn’t get a chance to chase that line of thought because Baekhyun wakes up and his body seems to know exactly how it wants to direct its restless energy.

They spend the entire morning and most of the afternoon desperately fucking.

Jongdae can barely get Baekhyun to talk, his husband preoccupied with trying to crawl into Jongdae’s skin. He burns with curiosity but manages to keep himself in check, making sure Baekhyun is looked after. He has to remind himself over and over again that Baekhyun would explain if he could.

The longer it goes on the more Jongdae is sure that Baekhyun had been telling the truth and that the bond between him and their third did not begin. If it had, Jongdae would be feeling it too, even if only as a secondary connection. This entire aftershock is Baekhyun’s core energy redirecting itself into Jongdae because of the sudden surge and drain of a bond ready to begin. 

But it does make Jongdae’s heart ache because Baekhyun, dazed and desperate, was clearly ready to start the bond. There is no way he would be sinking so deep if the bond wasn’t just about to snap into place. 

Jongdae has to push this to the back of his mind. He can deal with his feelings with that later on. Right now, he has to focus on Baekhyun. 

It’s only when the sun is setting and Jongdae collapses onto Baekhyun after their fourth – fifth? – round of fucking does Baekhyun finally seem to settle, his eyes more alert.

Jongdae whines when Baekhyun slips out of him, barely resisting the urge to whine harder when Baekhyun gathers Jongdae to his side. Baekhyun ducks in to kiss his pout away.

“Hey,” Baekhyun whispers against Jongdae’s lips, drawing the blankets over their head and tucking Jongdae in close. It traps the pungent smell of sex and sweat in with them, but Jongdae couldn’t care less, immensely relieved to see Baekhyun’s eyes back to their normal beautiful brown.

Jongdae smiles into a kiss, just a press of lips because he doesn’t have the energy for more. “Hey yourself. You feeling better?”

Baekhyun scoffs, hold tightening around Jongdae’s waist. “I feel like I got hit by a truck and my core is still being dragged under the wheels.”

Jongdae frowns, hand immediately going down to the core-mark above Baekhyun’s heart. It trills under his palm, sluggy energy transferring from Baekhyun’s skin into Jongdae’s in pulses as slow as when Baekhyun is seriously injured. Jongdae bites his lips, worry overtaking him. He doesn’t know exactly what to do here, and he’s worried about what Baekhyun’s body is going through.

Baekhyun’s hand closes over Jongdae and he gives a comforting squeeze. Jongdae drags their combined hands until it settles over Jongdae’s own core-mark, just under his navel. Jongdae’s core lights up at the contact, sending energy into their bond for the umpteenth time. It’s worrisome how slowly Baekhyun’s core is absorbing Jongdae’s energy, unprecedented for the two of them who are famous for their core connection.

“Are you going to tell me what happened?” Jongdae asks when Baekhyun sags into his embrace, fingers slowly circling Jongdae’s belly button.

Baekhyun groans. “I don’t even know where to start.”

“The beginning would be nice,” Jongdae replies, his natural snark edging in.

Baekhyun only snorts, never bothered by Jongdae’s sass and only drags his nails over Jongdae’s bellybutton as punishment.

“I was changing in the locker room at the end of my shift,” Baekhyun begins, brows furrowed as he remembers the details that must still be hazy from all that’s happening to his body. “The five -alarm suddenly rang - ”

Jongdae cuts him off, tense, “You’re – they’re supposed to call me if - ”

“Babe, you know they couldn’t,” Baekhyun soothes, voice only partially apologetic because there is a steely warning in his eyes. “Besides, it happened so fast, I didn’t even get a chance to change back into my uniform. It was a summoning just outside our fucking building, Jongdae. It was Hyukjae hyung who came barging in and told us we all needed to get out there ASAP.”

Jongdae’s heart starts to pick up pace again, not liking the picture that Baekhyun is painting. He hasn’t opened the television or checked his phone once today, so focused on Baekhyun. He’s sure something of this magnitude should be all over the news.

“By the time we got to the site, the gates were already open, and the mid-level Beasts were out. Yunho hyung took control and split us into teams and gave me the mission to find the Summoner.”

Jongdae has to swallow past the hot anger building in his chest. He had been at home making dinner while his husband was out and fighting a level five raid. And no one called him.

Baekhyun’s fingers tremble and Jongdae focuses back on encouraging Baekhyun.

“It was a mess, Jongdae,” Baekhyun whispers. “We were taken off-guard and it showed. Sooyoung was able to scry a general location, but my team got split up half-way in because we had no intel and had to do things the old-fashioned way.”

“Groundwork. And, let me guess, you found the Summoner first?”

Baekhyun grimaces. “I found a fight.”

Jongdae raises an eyebrow. “The Summoner was fighting us? Or one of his own?”

“She. She was fighting our – I think – soulmate,” Baekhyun clarifies, and that makes Jongdae’s train of thought pause.

Their soulmate. A vampire. The one who put Baekhyun in this state. 

Despite his feelings on this, he can admit there is a cracking relief at Baekhyun’s statement. “He wasn’t one of the Summoner’s?”

Baekhyun shakes his head, droopy eyes deep in thought. Jongdae has to take just a moment to drink in the beautiful sight of Baekhyun when he’s serious. “I don’t know. He had a collar on his neck, but it wasn’t stopping him from attacking her.”

Okay, that’s worrying. Their third is strong enough to resist a Summoner capable of starting a level five raid while wearing a submission collar. Vampires were more than just mere Beasts. They were Underworlders, beings that were made of magic and were full of rationality Beasts lacked. 

Most Summoners couldn’t put an Underworlder in a submission collar easily, but a level five raid easily spoke to the Summoner’s ability. Of the seven levels assigned to a raid, a level five often meant severe property damage, imminent civilian casualties and possible loss of SSDF life. 

How could Jongdae have missed that? Their homes are wired to the emergency response system – Jongdae would have known at least from the warning notices –

Jongdae’s eyes narrow. 

“Did you disable our emergency alert?” Jongdae asks, trying to keep calm. 

Baekhyun’s eyes widen and he gulps. “Look, babe, I know you’re mad, but our apartment is the safest place in Seoul. I needed you to stay home no matter what, so I disabled it so you wouldn’t get tipped off and try to come running into battle while you’re still healing.” Towards the end of his sentence, Baekhyun loses the sheepishness voice firming with resolve. 

Jongdae glares, but ultimately bites his tongue. Baekhyun isn’t wrong. Jongdae isn’t in any position to be fighting and he would probably get Baekhyun hurt if he tried to intervene. It stings, a combination of humiliation and frustration bubbling in his gut, but he understands. 

He takes a deep breath and lets it go. 

“Cute vampire?” Jongdae teases, moving back to their conversation. He tries to keep his tone light and airy and keep the biting, deep, envious emotions locked tight. 

Baekhyun pouts. “Would you rather I say hot? Sexy? Made me wonder what it would look like if he held you up and fucked you against a wall?”

Jongdae doesn’t give Baekhyun the benefit of a reaction beyond a soft slap to Baekhyun’s thigh.

“Are we going to talk about the fact that our third is a vampire?” Jongdae asks, not trying to downplay the gravity of the question.

Jongdae’s always been more wary of the supernatural than Baekhyun has. One of the reasons he decided to join the SSDF was because his brother was attacked by a wandering ghoul and only an off-duty SSDF officer being in the right place at the right time had spared him. Baekhyun, on the other hand, comes from a family that have been in the thick of supernatural-human relations for generations.

Baekhyun sighs, his swollen lip trapped between his teeth as he meets Jongdae’s eyes, thumbs gentling over Jongdae’s pulse. “We will,” Baekhyun promises, “but let me finish telling you what I saw. I don’t want to influence your opinion too much, babe, but I -”

Jongdae cuts Baekhyun off with a kiss. Baekhyun has such a big heart, one of the reasons Jongdae loves him so much. He’ll be the first to hug, the first to forgive, the first to see the light in any situation. Jongdae knows Baekhyun’s already a foot deeper than he is but he’s not going to pull his husband back. Yet.

Baekhyun returns the kiss with gentle fervour, sucking on Jongdae’s bottom lip and slipping his tongue in when Jongdae naturally parts his lips. Jongdae pulls back first with a soft moan, but not before sending another pulse of energy from his core to Baekhyun’s.

Baekhyun draws back, frowning. “I’m okay now, Dae. You need to stop giving me so much.”

Jongdae rolls his eyes. “I’m only giving back all that you gave me the past few days.”

Baekhyun pokes Jongdae’s stomach instead of verbally answering and it quickly deteriorates to a tickle fight.

“Baek!” Jongdae slaps Baekhyun’s arm with a laugh. Jongdae’s just honestly happy that Baekhyun is feeling more of himself. There is nothing worse to Jongdae than a Baekhyun who has no energy. “Get back to the report,” he orders.

“Sir, yes, sir,” Baekhyun replies flirtatiously, voice pitching low and makes Jongdae reach over to pinch Baekhyun to get him to take their conversation seriously again.

Baekhyun’s fingers drop back down to trace over Jongdae’s abdomen, making his skin immediately tingle in pleasure. It glows a soft teal, practically purring at the small sparks of energy Baekhyun pumps into him. He wonders what color the faded gray core mark on his back, identical to the one on Baekhyun, will glow, what shape it will take. He pushes the curiosity back to look into Baekhyun’s eyes seriously.

His lover pouts but his brows furrow to get back to the scene in his head. “I got there just as the vampire was breaking the submission collar on his neck. The Summoner, she clearly wasn’t expecting him to resist. I don’t even know how she managed to summon him in the first place, Dae. He was so powerful and Dae - he had a core, I know he did. He summoned fire like it was nothing.”

That makes Jongdae sit up, disrupting the blanket on top of them. He immediately leans over Baekhyun, a new simmering panic barely kept at bay. He’s been looking over Baekhyun’s body, intimately, for nearly twenty-four hours. He knows Baekhyun isn’t hurt.

“Jongdae, sweetheart, shh, I’m okay,” Baekhyun soothes, hands running up and down Jongdae’s arms. It only does the bare minimum to make him calm down.

“They should have called me,” Jongdae says through gritted teeth.

Baekhyun’s eyes are sharp with a glare. “You’re still Drained, Jongdae. Don’t start with me on this.”

Jongdae bites his lip against some choice words. It’s not Baekhyun’s fault. It’s just one of his nightmares coming alive – Baekhyun alone and fighting without Jongdae by his side to protect him.

Baekhyun leans up forcing Jongdae back a bit. “Don’t,” Baekhyun scolds, finger coming up to soothe the furrow in Jongdae’s brow. “I know you want to protect me, love. But if you were there like this, I would be distracted. Your safety is always going to be my first priority but without your core working at full capacity, you’d only be a liability.” Baekhyun pushes Jongdae back until he’s the one flat on his back, his husband looming over him.

Hearing the words out loud hurt worse than Jongdae’s own silent acquisition on the subject. Jongdae almost considers making a contrary point for the sake of it, but Baekhyun isn’t wrong and Jongdae would never forgive himself if Baekhyun got hurt protecting Jongdae who can barely handle a fucking goblin in this state.

“Sweetheart,” Baekhyun’s beautiful droopy eyes are apologetic as he stares down at Jongdae, but he can see the steely resolve behind them all the same. So, he swallows past his pride and shakes his head, hand coming up to circle Baekhyun’s wrist by his head, tugging him down until he’s lying on Jongdae’s chest.

He clears his throat, prompting, “So cute vampire was fighting the Summoner?”

Baekhyun nods, lips tickling Jongdae’s ear. “It was intense. She was clearly outmatched, and she wasn’t a weakling, opening the level five gate. She Summoned three top tier Beasts – one was a fucking Chimera, Dae! - in front of me, and cute vampire slaughtered them like they were nothing. He burnt them to a crisp.”

“Fire, eh?” Jongdae muses, a reluctant smile overtaking his face. Jongdae can’t see Baekhyun but he knows his husband is smiling too. “Fits, doesn’t it? Light, lightning and fire.”

His hands lightly flitter down Baekhyun’s naked back, fingertips gently tracing Baekhyun’s spine up and down, stopping at the center between Baekhyun’s shoulder blades. Nestled perfectly in the center, Jongdae traces their third’s core-mark, mirrored exactly on Jongdae’s own body, there like he has a million times before. It’s still gray, one of the first things Jongdae had checked. But now he can only imagine what it would look like glowing orange or burning red.

Baekhyun moans under the touch, wiggling to get Jongdae to press harder. “It was stupidly hot, Jongdae. He was barely even trying, and he did this thing where he swept his hair back and I didn’t even know he was ours but that is when I swear the call started up inside me.”

And there it is again. The acidic taste that builds at the back of Jongdae’s mouth, the only thing holding back Jongdae’s vile thoughts from being voiced out loud. 

Because the thing is – Jongdae doesn’t want their third. 

Baekhyun and Jongdae have formulated most of their lives around each other. Jongdae still remembers the first day he entered the SSDF entrance exam and saw Baekhyun there. Remembers the feeling of the call instantly springing up, enticing him. They’d just been teenagers then and the adults in the room had realized what was happening, had made sure to keep them separated until they could figure out what they wanted. 

It’d been about a month of Jongdae and Baekhyun, five feet apart, animatedly learning everything there was to know about each other. Baekhyun is full of life, larger than his fleshy confinement. Everyone who meets Baekhyun falls in love with him, and in turn, Baekhyun gives a part of himself to everyone he meets. He’s always suspected their third was more for Baekhyun than Jongdae. 

One of the biggest and only fights, between the two of them was the decision to get married. Baekhyun wanted to wait for their third but, by then, it had already been over seven years since they met. Jongdae knows most soulmates are around the same age, and seven years was pushing it. 

All those who possessed a core were required to go to SSDF training, even if they didn’t enlist. That Baekhyun and Jongdae hadn’t met their third by then was an anomaly. 

The fact that their third was an Underworlder didn’t explain why Baekhyun and Jongdae hadn’t met him. Underworlders frequently could travel to and from Earth, were encouraged to. It was rare for an Underworlder to have a core, since they were magic themselves, but in the rare instances they do, they came up to a supernatural school regardless to learn to control their connection to Earth. There was still tension, prejudice, between normal humans and Underworlders, especially because of the damage caused by underworld Beasts and human abuse of Earth’s resources, but ultimately, Underworlders who possessed a core always came up to learn about it. 

But Jongdae hadn’t known that then. At the time, Jongdae had been tired of waiting, had wanted – still does - Baekhyun all for himself. 

The thought sends a familiar pang through his chest and he makes sure to avoid Baekhyun’s eyes lest his husband see. Baekhyun hates when Jongdae thinks he doesn’t have all of him, and Jongdae loathes to do anything to stop Baekhyun from running through life with everything he’s got.

“Anyways,” Baekhyun continues, breath tickling Jongdae’s sensitive ears, “she was clearly outmatched. She was trying to get him back under control and he was just trying to kill her. He had her pinned within a minute of me getting there, Jongdae. I mean, I know I could have done the same, but it was still kinda impressive.”

Jongdae rolls his eyes. “Never let me doubt your abilities, my hero.”

Baekhyun lightly bites his earlobe in retaliation for his snark, and Jongdae flinches, wrenching his head back to glare at Baekhyun.

“So that’s when you decided to jump in?” Jongdae prompts after poking Baekhyun’s side in revenge. Jongdae’s well aware of Baekhyun’s impulsive tendencies. He doesn’t doubt Baekhyun would jump into the fray just because he could.

Baekhyun tenses. “No, that’s actually when the vampire realized I was there.”

Jongdae also tenses, hands wrapping around Baekhyun’s waist to hug him close. “What happened?”

“We made eye contact, and it was like all those fucking movies, Jongdae. The world stopped for a second, all I could see was him,” Baekhyun’s voice drops again, his seriousness making Jongdae’s anticipation ratchet up.

Baekhyun sighs. “So of course, while we were distracted, she manages to fire off a spell to Subdue him. We were both taken off guard. She seemed to realize who I was and ordered the vampire to kill me.”

Jongdae’s arms tighten around Baekhyun.

Baekhyun presses a kiss onto Jongdae’s thudding pulse. “He was fighting it. He crowded me against the wall and I froze, Dae. I couldn’t stop staring at his eyes – they were such a pretty pink, ringed silver with her spell. It was like the first time I saw you - it was like fighting gravity. I knew he was ours – mine. I think he knew too. He picked me up,” Baekhyun swallows, his husky voice sensually weaving through Jongdae’s ears and making something in him turn from fear to arousal. “He grabbed my thighs and held me up like I weighed nothing. He’s tall, Dae. Taller than us. Built, with the cutest face. Black hair and big eyes. Small face with beautiful lips. You could see his fangs, babe. He was biting his lips so hard and blood was riveting down his chin. I think I did that thing with my lips you like so much,” Baekhyun leans back, smile weak as he holds eye contact with Jongdae. “He was going to kiss me, babe. I know he was.”

Jongdae’s eyes go half-lidded, his own voice lowering in arousal – better than the fear - as he asks, “Were you going to let him? Were you going to moan for him, Baek? Were you going to let him touch you, even though you saw his fangs?”

Baekhyun’s forehead drops down to Jongdae’s. Their lips are a breadth apart, but neither make the move to connect them, just breathing in each other’s air. “I would have,” Baekhyun admits.

Jongdae’s hands move up to cradle Baekhyun’s face. “But he didn’t touch you, at least not your bare skin– the mark would have lit up.”

Baekhyun nods, “She yelled at him – repeated the order.”

“He hurt you?” Jongdae’s stomach tightens, righteous anger boiling hot at the thought of anyone touching his soulmate.

Baekhyun shakes his head. “I mean he bruised my ass? He was gripping it so hard,” Baekhyun huffs a small laugh but his smirk is so raunchy Jongdae feels his anger slowly simmer down. “But when I heard her repeat the order, I snapped out of it. I broke eye contact and that’s all he needed, I guess. He moved so fast, babe. In between the time I blinked he went from having me against the wall to the other side of the building, ripping her throat apart – and that’s when Zhou Mi showed up.”

“And Zhou Mi immediately did a banishing spell, didn’t he?” Jongdae asks even though he knows the answer.

Baekhyun nods, a conflicted look in his eyes. “He was in the process of ripping off the collar, but Zhou Mi’s spell was faster. I couldn’t even say a word and he was gone, Dae.”

Jongdae thumbs the flesh behind Baekhyun’s ears in a soothing circle. It’s clearly getting to Baekhyun now, and Jongdae aches to soothe the regret in Baekhyun’s eyes. He continues to trace the mark on Baekhyun’s spine, cooing softly into Baekhyun’s ear as his soulmate takes a moment to swallow past his emotions. Jongdae can already sense Baekhyun’s core pulling forward again, reacting to the want surging through Baekhyun. Jongdae subtly flares his own core, trying to redirect Baekhyun’s searching energy. 

Jongdae doesn’t know what to say. He wants to promise Baekhyun that they’ll find their third, but the words won’t come. Jongdae doesn’t know who their third is, can’t even begin to imagine him in his mind’s eye. All he knows is that he is a vampire – a vampire with a core, from the Underworld. He’s dangerous and Jongdae isn’t naïve enough to think that just because he may be their soulmate means he won’t hurt them.

“What happened with the Summoner?” Jongdae tries to distract Baekhyun, trying to get the frown off of Baekhyun’s face.

Baekhyun sighs. “She was dying. The vampire got a good chunk out of her. Zhou Mi tried to give her basic healing but she was still trying to fight us back. She wasn’t too hard to subdue at that point though, it was clear she was Drained. She fell dramatically into my arms,” Baekhyun rolls his eyes, “and died without explaining anything of her plan. All she managed to mouth was ‘that this wasn’t the end’.”

They both share a wince at the cliché.

Baekhyun rests his cheek against Jongdae’s shoulder again. “The whole thing barely took like ten minutes, Dae. I didn’t even get to do anything. Henry and Hyukjae hyung picked us up afterwards and I gave my report on the spot. Hyukjae hyung told Henry to take me home, and that was that.”

“I leave you alone for a few weeks and you nearly go off gallivanting into the arms of a vamp,” Jongdae teases when Baekhyun falls silent.

Except Baekhyun doesn’t tease back. “I want to see him again, Dae. I want you to see him too.”

Jongdae doesn’t want to. He and Baekhyun have spent nearly half their lives together. He’s happy with what they have, never felt like anything was missing except the fact that Baekhyun clearly was aching to find their third. Even as Jongdae settled it in to the back burner, was the first to propose, to tie Baekhyun to him in more than just their mark, Baekhyun’s never stopped talking about ‘when they find their third.’ In the same selfish way Jongdae wants to trap Baekhyun in his arms and never let him go, he wants Baekhyun to be the happiest person in the world.

And even though it leaves a bitter taste in his mouth, Jongdae can’t deny Baekhyun anything, even if what he wants is a vampire. So, he smiles even though Baekhyun can’t see it, keeping his tone light when he says, “I will ask Suho hyung tomorrow. If anyone knows of a vampire with a core in the Underworld, it will be the Prince of the Shadows.”

Immediately, Baekhyun is up, straddling Jongdae’s waist and bracketing Jongdae’s head with his arms. “Not without me, you’re not,” Baekhyun hisses, his glare looking more cute than menacing as his eyes already start to droop. His body must be shutting down again to try and regulate itself – his core looking to bond with something that isn’t there.

“You need to rest, Baek,” Jongdae protests. “I’ll go in tomorrow and - ”

Baekhyun’s hand closes over Jongdae’s mouth. Jongdae barely resists the urge to bite it.

“Not. Without. Me.”

Jongdae glares back. Believe Jongdae when he says he understands the hypocrisy, but it is honestly ridiculous how possessive Baekhyun can get. Especially when Jongdae has repeatedly told Baekhyun he was it, the one. 

He nips Baekhyun’s palm, just enough to get Baekhyun to instinctively move it away. “You’re overreacting, Baek. Knowing BoA noona, Yixing hyung is probably going to be there, anyways.”

Baekhyun hisses cradling his palm and pouting down at Jongdae. “Yixing hyung is also part of the problem! They tag team you!”

Jongdae rolls his eyes. His hyungs flirt with Jongdae because it gets Baekhyun so riled up. And his husband is frustratingly cute when he gets all protective.

“Fine, fine,” Jongdae acquiesces when Baekhyun’s body subtly trembles. His priority is to get Baekhyun to rest and arguing about a topic Jongdae is bound to lose – Baekhyun would show up at HQ even if Jongdae tied him to the bed – isn’t worth the effort.

At that Baekhyun sags into his arms, rearranging Jongdae until he serves as the perfect human pillow.

“Comfy?” Jongdae asks dryly after a few moments.

“I hope our new soulmate is more of a cuddler than you are,” Baekhyun retorts sleepily.

Jongdae huffs into Baekhyun’s fluffy head of hair, not saying anything. 

Baekhyun drifts off to sleep within minutes leaving Jongdae to deal with his mess of emotions and information to sort through.

“I hope he makes you happy,” Jongdae whispers softly, hugging Baekhyun tight to his chest and letting Baekhyun’s core take some more energy. “I won’t ever let him hurt you,” he promises to himself.

~✧*💎* ✧*⚡*✧*🔥*✧~

As expected of their freakishly competent Commander, Jongdae gets a call just as they are both about to leave for HQ.

“I’m assuming both of you are on your way?” BoA asks in a way that Jongdae knows she knows they’re pretty much out the door.

He stifles a shudder and just confirms, eyeing Baekhyun as he struggles to put his wallet in the pocket of his frustratingly hot, distressed skinny jeans. Baekhyun really went all out in his outfit, even taking the time to put on some makeup. In contrast, Jongdae’s own wardrobe makes him look like he came out of a 90s thrift shop, but he’s always been more for comfort than style. Jongdae spares half a thought that Baekhyun’s fans are going to be particularly happy today. His own will probably just assume Baekhyun dressed him again, which is completely true.

“Good, I’ve called in Yixing already.”

Jongdae chuckles weakly. He can never tell if BoA has a gifted core or if she really does know everything in the world. “Yunho will meet you there in my place, but I still expect a full report, from both of you, Jongdae-ah.”

“Yes, Commander,” Jongdae affirms.

“Take care of yourselves, okay?” BoA ends off, voice soft.

“Yes, noona,” Jongdae dutifully replies, waiting until she hangs up to do so too.

He turns around and nearly groans. Baekhyun has their two motorcycle helmets in hand. He also has his leather jacket on, the one he knows makes Jongdae want to fuck him. He glares at Baekhyun but wisely chooses to keep his thoughts to himself, even though Baekhyun’s eyes are positively glinting with mischievous amusement. Jongdae gives him a warning look, keeping his ass behind him when he bends down to put his shoes on, not wanting to be late. 

Baekhyun pouts but doesn’t say anything, just linking his fingers through Jongdae’s own and leading them down to the garage. They exit out with no problem, Jongdae only barely hearing the click of camera shutters and the squeal of fans, over the roar of the engine as they hit the road.

Jongdae manages to get a bit of revenge, holding tight to Baekhyun’s waist and sliding down closer than he needs to be until his entire body is flush with his husband’s, thighs cradling Baekhyun’s body. He subtly grinds against his partner the entire ride to HQ. When they finally park at the towering monolith that is the SSDF HQ, Baekhyun immediately wrenches off both their helmets and bends Jongdae over the motorcycle, kissing him like they didn’t fuck before they left their apartment. Jongdae smirks into the kiss, giving back as good as Baekhyun, trapping his husband’s pouty bottom lip between his teeth and biting down in a way that always makes Baekhyun shudder.

“Glad to see you’re not as broken as Zhou Mi led me to believe you were,” someone says dryly.

Jongdae immediately pushes Baekhyun back, recognizing the voice. Baekhyun makes a wounded sound, hand going up to exaggeratedly air down his stinging bottom lip. Jongdae ignores him, hasting to fix himself up. He flushes deeper than what Baekhyun’s kiss calls for as he stares at their handsome Vice-Commander, Jung Yunho, looking over at them from the entrance of garage. Beside him stands his husband, Changmin, looking as intimidatingly beautiful as ever.

Baekhyun pouts excessively as he greets both of them, as informal as ever. Changmin, a Light Fae, has been Baekhyun’s mentor for years, and it’s the only reason they get a chance to see the Gods of the East as often and familiarly as they do.

“How are you doing, Jongdae-ah?” Yunho asks kindly.

Jongdae smiles, hand coming down automatically to rest on his core mark on his naval. All three men are drawn to the movement, even though Jongdae wasn’t intending for that, and there is a frown on all of them even though Jongdae hasn’t said anything.

“Better now,” Jongdae hastily says, linking his fingers with Baekhyun and following their hyungs’ lead when they exit the garage.

“He’s given me too much energy in the past 24 hours,” Baekhyun immediately refutes, a hard glare in his eyes. Jongdae fights not break eye contact, a flashback to the same disappointed and angry glare he was subjected to this morning when his soulmate realized he’d been giving him energy through the night to stabilize him. Hence the intense fuck in the morning.

Changmin frowns. “So, Zhou Mi’s report was right. You found your third.”

Jongdae tenses. Not many people know that Jongdae and Baekhyun have a third mark, aside from their family and trusted friends. Zhou Mi isn’t one of those people.

Yunho waves off Jongdae’s concern. “We – well, Changdola - figured it out from the observations Zhou Mi reported.”

They enter the lobby and Jongdae has to double take at the sea of reporters he can see from beyond the glass windows that make up their general reception area. “Why are they - ?” Then he remembers that there was a level five raid, and that is hardly something that can be subtly covered up.

Changmin scoffs. “They’ve been here since yesterday. Yunho-hyung already gave them a statement but they won’t let up. They figured out the Summoner was an ex-SSDF and a member of LORE and they won’t fuck off.”

“Ex-SSDF?” Baekhyun asks, right as Jongdae says, “LORE? Fuck, seriously?”

Yunho shakes his head, an obvious order not to talk too much until they get to where they need to go. They go through the runes of the gate, all of their cores and Yunho’s artificial tattoo lighting up to permit entry. Jongdae never gets tired of watching Yunho utilize magic even if he himself didn't have a core, a true Runes Master. From there, they enter the elevator, Yunho punching in the floor for their Summoning room.

When it’s clear they’re alone again, Baekhyun doesn’t waste any time and says, “The Summoner did look familiar – she was one of us?”

Yunho sighs, leading the way to their Summoning chamber. Jongdae’s core buzzes at the amount of runes taping across the walls and floors. “Ahn Hyojin - she was three years ahead of you. Only made it a year in the Force before dropping out, citing psychological stress. You probably know her better as LE.”

“You fought LE?” Jongdae turns to Baekhyun, wide-eyed. A few years ago, LE was the one to open a level six gate, one of the most gruesome battles the SSDF had ever fought and the battle that Jongdae and Baekhyun got their recognition as the Aces of the SSDF. SSDF had crushed LORE and taken most of the members in, though a few escaped through the cracks, LE being one of them. Whoever had remained of LORE have been relatively quiet since then, but you don’t just forget names like that.

Baekhyun’s eyes are wide with shock, before a half smirk takes over. “Technically, cute vampire did. And he did it like it was nothing. Fuck, that is so hot.”

Changmin is the one to pinch Baekhyun’s neck, drawing him out of his memories with a stern, “Bigger picture, Beagle.”

Baekhyun whines and Jongdae laughs indulgently, trying to ignore the unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach. He doesn’t exactly share Baekhyun’s sentiment that ‘hot’ is the right word to use to describe the fact that their potential-soulmate annihilated a Summoner as strong as LE without trying.

It makes him think back to nearly six weeks ago when Jongdae had participated in a level seven –

Jongdae umphs as he walks into Baekhyun’s back. His husband smirks at him, as if to rub in the fact he knew goody-two-shoes Jongdae wasn’t paying attention. 

Yunho stops them in front of the dubbed ‘Solar Chamber’, the most secure Summoning Circle in Asia laying inside. Gold runes paint the entirety of the oak doors, the feeling of Earth’s magic so strong that Jongdae doesn’t even have to try and tap into his core to feel it. It’s always as unsettling as it is amazing when Jongdae realizes he’s in South Korea – Asia’s – most acclaimed magical institute. Baekhyun’s hand tightens around his, always more sensitive than Jongdae’s been to Earth’s energy. He’s positive they’re going to have to duck into an empty room before they leave.

Jongdae opens the door but pauses when he realizes that their hyungs aren’t following them inside.

“You’re not coming?” Jongdae asks in confusion.

Changmin points above them, to the observation floor. “We’ll be watching. Suho is more inclined to give you information if we aren’t breathing down your necks.” He gives Jongdae a wink that makes Baekhyun bristle, tugging Jongdae into the circle of his arms.

“Behave,” Yunho spanks Changmin lightly, making his partner yelp in surprise. Jongdae resists the urge to groan. He’ll never get used to seeing his idols in their natural flirty selves. “We’d like to talk to Suho about LORE afterwards. We’re supposed to be observing, but,” he tugs Changmin close to his side, “we can afford to be preoccupied while you get your burning questions off your chest. We’ll find you after you’re done.”

“Understood,” Jongdae says quickly, tugging Baekhyun into the room and closing the door before Changmin can retaliate.

He’s walking backwards which is the only reason he’s completely caught off guard when he hears a cheerful, “Jongdae! Baekhyun!” followed by being engulfed into a strong circle of arms.

“Yixing ge!” Jongdae replies happily, getting over his shock and breaking out of his husband’s arms to give Yixing a hug.

“Hyung!” Baekhyun whines, pulling Jongdae back when Yixing presses a kiss to Jongdae’s cheek, right above the corner of Jongdae’s upturned lips.

Yixing smiles beautifully, dimple out and a tad playful as he leans over Jongdae’s shoulder to give Baekhyun a kiss too, right on the lips. “You look really pretty, Baekhyunnie,” he says sweetly.

Baekhyun flusters a bit and Jongdae gets a laugh at his expense. Baekhyun can never really preen in front of Yixing’s blunt honesty and Jongdae loves the older man all the more for it.

“When did you get here?” Jongdae asks. 

“Jonginnie picked me up this morning. Noona called me last night and got my schedule cleared. I’ll be here for a few days, on break.”

“That’s great!” Baekhyun beams, making grabby hands at Yixing. “You need to come stay with us one night!” 

Yixing chuckles. “Sehunnie’s already called dibs. We should do an EXO night, the six of us.”

Jongdae nods readily, Baekhyun all but jumping up and down beside him. Despite Sehun and Jongin being located in Seoul, as the rank three and four respectively, they’re often called on away missions, especially with Jongin’s special core. It’s been a while since all of them have gotten together, and Jongdae feels giddy with the promise of seeing his favourite people again. 

“How are you feeling?” Yixing switches to Jongdae, hands coming up and cradling Jongdae’s hips, one hand settling over his shirt where Jongdae’s core mark is without any hesitation.

It’s a very intimate move, but neither Jongdae or Baekhyun pull away from Yixing. They’ve known Yixing just as long as they’ve known each other, climbing through the SSDF ranks together before Yixing was transferred to the GLORY, China’s supernatural defense division. It’s hard to get an audience with Yixing now, his Summoning ability alongside his healing core a commodity that sovereign nations were ready to fight over. Not to mention the particular fact that he’s mated to the next King of the Underworld.

Baekhyun’s hand joins Yixing’s but actually ducks underneath Jongdae’ oversized shirt, palm pressed over Jongdae’s core mark. He shudders when Baekhyun sends some energy into it, trying to flinch away but both Baekhyun and Yixing hold tight. “Baekhyunnie, stop that,” Yixing says before Jongdae can.

A second later, Yixing’s hand finds its way over Baekhyun’s and a cool wave of energy sinks into Jongdae’s skin. Jongdae involuntarily moans. Yixing’s healing energy is like sinking into an open river on a hot summer day, refreshing and cool in a way you didn’t know you were missing until you are immersed in it.

“Your balance is still off, Jongdae-ah,” Yixing comments after a moment, worry in his voice.

Jongdae offers a weak smile. “I know, hyung. Our healers said it will take some time for me to recover naturally. Baekhyun’s been helping me along and I’m feeling a lot better. Whatever you did felt good.”

Yixing pulls away with a small frown. “Your core is still,” his face frowns as he struggles to think of the correct translated word, “lethargic? But knowing you, it’ll be fine in no time. I healed your channels though, they’ve been overworked. Probably because of this one?” Yixing playfully flicks Baekhyun’s nose.

Baekhyun lurches forward to try and snap at Yixing’s retreating fingers. Yixing cooes at the act while Jongdae elbows his soulmate in the stomach.

“Yeah,” Jongdae sighs in confirmation, grabbing Baekhyun and whipping them around so he has his husband cradled in his arms instead. Baekhyun makes an affronted noise and struggles but Jongdae just holds him tighter, pressing his lips against Baekhyun’s pulse. “Can you check him over for me, ge?”

Yixing doesn’t hesitate. Jongdae helpfully pulls Baekhyun’s shirt up all the way to his collarbone. He can’t help but teasingly run his fingers over Baekhyun’s beautiful abs, playfully nudging a nipple in a way that has Baekhyun flinching.

“At least buy me dinner if you two are going to tag team me,” Baekhyun complains, shivering when Yixing’s palm covers over Baekhyun’s core-mark on his left pectoral.

Jongdae hums. “Don’t act like you wouldn’t let Yixing in our bed if he wanted it, baby.”

This, this is easy. It’s fun and lighthearted. Jongdae is even semi-serious. He doesn’t mind physically sharing Baekhyun’s attention because he knows nothing in the relationship will change. Baekhyun would still belong to Jongdae, mind, body and soul because no one else could compete. No one else except their third. 

Baekhyun opens his mouth to say something but Yixing cuts him off first, “I’ve never felt anything like this before.”

Yixing’s brows are furrowed in concentration and Jongdae’s heart immediately skips a beat, arms tightening around Baekhyun in worry. “Is he okay?” Jongdae immediately asks.

Baekhyun remains silent which isn’t helping Jongdae’s panic. Baekhyun is never quiet.

Yixing looks up at Jongdae with a smile, “Shh, he’s okay, Jongdae-ah. I’m just surprised. His core isn’t reacting like how an interrupted bond does.”

“Because he didn’t touch me,” Baekhyun states, voice subdued.

Yixing pauses his inspection, leaning back. “It must be a strong bond for your core to want to reach for him even though it wasn’t triggered,” Yixing says softly, hands gently tucking Baekhyun’s shirt back down.

Jongdae hates how his gut clenches at Yixing’s words, at how Baekhyun only laughs weakly, saying, “It feels like when Jongdae isn’t beside me, hyung. But worse, because I don’t know when I’ll see him again.”

Yixing pats Baekhyun’s head softly, eyes turning to Jongdae. “Do you feel anything different? Baekhyun’s core is reaching for you, like it’s trying to pull you along as well.”

Jongdae shakes his head, intrigued despite himself. “No, just tired from helping Baekhyun’s body readjust.”

Yixing nods, not probing further. Jongdae hopes that means there isn’t anything wrong.

“There isn’t much I can do,” Yixing says apologetically, “Jongdae you just need rest to heal your Drain. Baekhyun-ah, you’ll settle back down to normal, even if you don’t find your soulmate soon, since the bond wasn’t initiated." 

“We’re going to find him,” Baekhyun says firmly. “He’s ours.”

Jongdae can only nod, reluctantly. He is never going to get in the way of Baekhyun’s’ happiness. He’ll help with every fiber of his being, for the sake of Baekhyun’s intrinsic fulfilment. 

Yixing nods, smiling prettily as if he expected nothing less. “You want me to call Myeonnie now?”

Baekhyun extracts himself from Jongdae’s arms. “Yes, please.”

Yixing hums in acknowledgement, slowly pushing the sleeves of his cashmere sweater up his forearms. Jongdae watches in fascination as the air shifts around them, magic singing through the air as Yixing calls it to him, his voice soft and coaxing. Runes on his arms glow a bright white just as the runes underneath their feet come up and alive, glowing golden and snapping into the array Yixing is weaving together with his voice.

They’ve both seen this process done hundreds of times over the years but it never stops being any less beautiful. It makes Jongdae’s chest swell with pride at how far his friend has come, to how high he’s climbed.

Wind whips around them violently but Jongdae and Baekhyun remain untouched, their own invisible runes glowing white around their wrists, the mark Suho left of them years ago. The air noticeably gets damper after a moment, possibly debilitating to any untrained civilians or recruits that stand too close to the array. The array itself has grown considerably from underneath Yixing’s feet to encompassing the auditorium-sized room they are in.

In between one breath and the next, a gate emerges from the glow of the array, breaking through seven golden rings. Delicately-woven onyx waves twist and twine with each other circling onto a perfectly beautiful blue gem that puts the blue of the Earth to shame.

Yixing’s humming cuts off just as the gem decompresses in, a loud click taking over the room. The wind dies down, the air becomes suffocating for a moment before lifting and returning back to normal.

Yixing sways a bit on his feet, but a lithe body is there to catch him before Baekhyun or Jongdae can move.

There is only the sound of Yixing’s heavy breathing for a second, carrying over the sounds of the dying winds and the retreat of the gate back into the array. The golden glow completely recedes and soon it’s just the four of them standing there.

“Hi, hyung!” Jongdae calls cheerfully, grabbing Baekhyun’s hand making their way to where Yixing is cradled against Suho’s chest.

The Prince of Shadows looks up from where he had his face buried in Yixing’s neck, a bright smile over taking his face. “Jongdae, Baekhyun!”

“Leader-nim,” Baekhyun greets teasingly, arm curling around Jongdae’s shoulder. Jongdae rolls his eyes and lets Baekhyun do his posturing, not that it’s going to stop Suho.

Suho laughs, his ethereal face crinkling into something more human in its wrinkles and it immediately tugs a smile to Jongdae’s own lips.

“And Yixing!” Yixing calls cheerfully, arms around Suho’s neck. Jongdae watches as Yixing taps the golden collar around Suho’s neck, dissolving it instantly. Suho’s face immediately goes fond, and Jongdae and Baekhyun simultaneously make gagging sounds as the two start making out in front of them.

And like that, gone is Suho, one of the feared Princes of the Underworld, next in line to the throne. He is replaced with Junmyeon, the overly clingy, super parent, abundantly affectionate leader of their group. 

“Junmyeon hyung!” Baekhyun complains loudly. “Stop sucking faces!”

Jongdae watches as Junmyeon’s supernatural glow slowly dissipates, his more human side taking over as his core connects with Earth’s energy. Junmyeon tries to pull away but Yixing chases after him, one hand wrenching Junmyeon’s head back to delve into his mouth, the other at his waist to bend him back and take advantage of their slight height difference. Junmyeon moans prettily and Yixing only tightens his hold.

Jongdae whistles. That will never not be hot.

Jongdae has to tug Baekhyun back, his soulmate taking a threatening step forward as if to tear the two apart. “They haven’t seen each other in a while,” Jongdae reminds Baekhyun softly, tugging his husband in close when he slumps in defeat.

Eventually Yixing’s passionate kiss tapers into more of a cradling, both of them just hugging each other. It makes Jongdae’s heart pang for both their hyungs. Years ago, the four of them – the six of them – used to be inseparable. Suho, known to his friends as Kim Junmyeon, entered the SSDF as part of his Rite of Passage, to control the core he was blessed with as a Fae. He was never meant to stay on Earth for as long as he did, but no one expected him to find his soulmate in Yixing. It makes Jongdae ache for them to be together as often as they want, but it’s difficult with Yixing’s sense of honor to his country and Junmyeon’s responsibilities as Crown Prince. One day, Jongdae reminds himself.

“Done?” Baekhyun’s voice cuts through Jongdae’s inner thoughts, as it always does. His best friend is impatiently tapping his feet, arms crossed and a pout on his lip as Junmyeon and Yixing break away from each other to turn to them.

Junmyeon laughs, eyes going up and down Baekhyun’s form. “You want attention too, Baekhyunnie?”

Jongdae bursts into laughter at the indignation on Baekhyun’s face. Oh, how the tables have turned. Years ago, it was Junmyeon who suffered from Baekhyun’s teasing but he’s long since figured out how to play Baekhyun back.

“He missed you, hyung,” Jongdae pipes up, subtly shivering when Junmyeon’s warm blue eyes shift to him.

“You miss me too, Jongdae-ah?” Junmyeon asks. “Why don’t you give hyung a kiss in greeting?”

“Not today, Satan,” Baekhyun quickly interrupts, with a glare.

“Not yet, Baekhyunnie,” Junmyeon winks and breaks into laughter as Baekhyun bats the air as if to physically swat the wink.

“Not ever,” Yixing says with a determined frown, scolding both Junmyeon and Baekhyun in one go. They both wince, Baekhyun immediately going for his puppy eyes like the little shit he is.

“Not ever,” Junmyeon placates, voice going soft and tugging Yixing into another quick kiss. “Now, I am assuming this isn’t a love call?” he asks once he pulls away, quickly slipping into his leader mode.

Junmyeon wouldn’t have to be perceptive to figure that out. Yixing only ever summons Junmyeon in times of emergencies. Junmyeon, like other Underworlders, can travel between Earth and the Underworld through natural portals that exist. Humans can also travel to the Underworld, but it’s far more dangerous. If Junmyeon really wanted to come to Earth, he could even open up a rift – his own portal that would cut the wall between Earth and Underworld temporarily. Summoning Junmyeon like this would only indicate an emergency, especially since it takes so much energy from Yixing to open up a level seven gate for Junmyeon. 

Jongdae steps in to fill Junmyeon in on the details. He’s not going to lie, there is always something so comforting about explaining the problem to Junmyeon and trusting that he has a solution.

“We’ve got two issues,” Jongdae begins, shoulders relaxing under Junmyeon’s attentive gaze. “The first is that LORE has made its move. The second is that…” Jongdae involuntarily pauses the words not coming out. 

Luckily Baekhyun is already jumping in, saying, “We found our third!”

Junmyeon’s eyebrows go up, looking comical on his immaculate face. “It’s only been six weeks since I was last here, how did you guys get into so much trouble?”

Baekhyun’s face falls into a grimace, remembering why it was that Junmyeon visited six weeks ago. Jongdae hurriedly goes on, not wanting Baekhyun to reminisce on that dark time. 

“Don’t look at me, hyung. It’s this one that is a danger magnet.” Jongdae points at Baekhyun who cries out indignantly. 

Junmyeon only sighs. “Baekhyunnie, be careful okay? If you end up leaving Jongdae too early, we’ll happily take him in but - ” Junmyeon’s sentence is cut off by Baekhyun’s war cry. Jongdae just barely holds on to him. 

Yixing chuckles beside them. “Honey, they forgot to tell you something about their third.”

Junmyeon raises an eyebrow at Yixing but it’s Baekhyun who answers, still trapped in Jongdae’s arms. 

“He’s a vampire.” 

Junmyeon’s face goes slack in surprise before he quickly gathers himself back together, eyes barely flicking over to Jongdae before training back to Baekhyun. 

“Start at the beginning.”

At the end of it, Junmyeon is frowning in contemplation. He flicks his eyes upwards once, exactly pinpointing where the observation deck is. “Yunho hyung doesn’t have any more information on LORE?”

Jongdae looks to Baekhyun who looks back with a shrug. “He didn’t give us anything. I am sure he would if he had it, though.”

Junmyeon sighs, nodding. “There have been rumors surfacing. I had my people look into them but there isn’t much to go on. We knew were LE and a few of the ex-LORE members were, but it’s out of my territory and the Prince of that boundary was providing extradition. We only let it slide because we didn’t think LE was still practicing.” Junmyeon’s eyes suddenly sharpen and they turn to look at both Jongdae and Baekhyun. “Which brings me to the second part – you think you’re bonded to a vampire?”

“Going deaf in your old age, hyung?” Baekhyun teases and Jongdae elbows him in the stomach.

Junmyeon doesn’t even twitch, gold eyes glinting for a moment as his stare slowly gets heavier. It clearly makes Baekhyun nervous, his hyperactive partner fiddling with his jacket. Just as Baekhyun’s about to break and ask Junmyeon why he is staring, Junmyeon speaks.

“Are you sure he is a vampire?” 

“I mean, he ripped out LE’s throat with his fangs?” Baekhyun says hesitatingly, too smart not to pick up on Junmyeon’s train of thought. “Super strong, super fast, had pink eyes – I mean they could have been red, it was pretty dark.”

Junmyeon nods accepting the description. “But he wasn’t Subdued by LE?”

Baekhyun shakes his head. “He didn’t Obey any of her commands and ripped through her collar like it was made out of wet paper.”

Yixing hums, chiming in. “LE isn’t – wasn’t weak. Vampires aren’t that difficult to control if you enchant them with the right spell. Pink eyes – I haven’t heard of those on a vampire.”

Baekhyun pauses, going back to his memories. “He was already Summoned by the time I got there. It’s been like ten years since Summoning classes but I’m pretty sure the spell she used to collar him the second time is the one they use for vampires.”

A thought occurs to him. “Are we sure she meant to Summon him?” Jongdae asks slowly, mind whirling.

All three look to him, Junmyeon with a knowing smile. Baekhyun chews his lips, thoughtfully. “Like I said, he was already there. I just assumed it was a Summoning gone wrong – she bit off more than she could chew.”

Yixing elbows Junmyeon before he can try and go for a pun.

“What do you think is more likely? A Summoning gone wrong or an accidental Summoning?” Baekhyun asks Yixing.

Jongdae looks down at the array surrounding them. Summoning is complicated business, which is why there are so few Summoners. Those who have a natural talent, like Yixing, often already have a connection to the Underworld, so the energy currents that makes the arrays that connect the two worlds bend easier to their will.

Summoning is also incredibly risky business. It is highly difficult to specify a target area and bring forward Underworlders. Most Summoners have a contract, like Yixing and Junmyeon, freely given. It’s nearly impossible to reach forward into the Underworld and pull forward a creature without their consent. The only way to do that is –

“It’s hard to say,” Yixing says voice cautious, “but from what I remember about LE, she wasn’t the type to go after those she can’t handle. But your what-ever-he-is was clearly out of her league. She either pulled too far and Summoned a curious creature from the Underworld, or she found a diamond in the rough in Dead World.”

“He was what, frolicking around Dead World?” Jongdae asks incredulously.

Dead World – the layer between Earth and the Underworld where creatures that absorb the energy from both spheres and create Beasts. It’s why the SSDF was built in the first place, when a natural rift was created centuries ago that allowed them to trespass on Earth. LORE was amongst other groups of cultists that tried to harness that raw energy. Afterall, it’s far easier to Summon from Dead World than the Underworld.

That’s where their raid system came in. Unlawfully created portals that Summoned those creatures – Beasts – to Earth. Those assholes did it because every time a portal opens, the raw energy can be absorbed by special containment crystals that can store and release that energy by anyone’s will. They go for thousands in the black market, to power hungry humans and Underworlders that don’t have a core but want the destructive power of one. 

Getting stronger, for anyone, means more recognition, more security, and more validation. Some Underworlders and core holders purposefully go to Dead World to absorb the raw energy, but it’s beyond risky. Energy is not always pure and the chances of absorbing dark energy, the energy that fuels the Beasts, is high. You don’t exactly just take a stroll into Dead World. 

“Is he an idiot? What the fuck – we have an idiot as our third?” Baekhyun cries, looking at Jongdae with wide eyes.

Yixing comfortingly pats Baekhyun’s shoulders. “We don’t know if it’s true yet, Baekhyunnie. He could have been in the wrong place at the wrong time, or he could have extended a contract to her only to turn against her. We don’t know.”

Jongdae looks to Junmyeon. “But that doesn’t eliminate the possibility he’s a vampire. You seem pretty sure he isn’t.”

Junmyeon shakes his head. “I am not discounting it, but it does seem unlikely, don’t you think?”

Something clicks.

“His core!” Jongdae says, looking to Baekhyun’s wide eyes. “You said it was fire, didn’t you? Vampire’s aren’t particular to Solar magic.”

Of course, how in the fuck did he miss that? He can only blame it on his whirlwind of emotions, his rational mind taking a back seat.

“He could be a black sheep,” Yixing offers hesitantly. “But you would have heard of a vampire with a fire core, wouldn’t you, Junmyeonnie?”

“More importantly,” Baekhyun cuts in, “if he had a core, why wasn’t he up here to be trained? Was he in another country? There is no way we could have missed a vampire with a fire core!”

Junmyeon sighs, racking a hand through his hair. “I don’t know, Baekhyun. The chances are higher he would have been assigned to come to SSDF than any other training facility because of our Solar Chambers. It draws and supports fire types more than other facilities. I think it’s safe to assume he never came to Earth. As for in the Underworld, you have to remember we are drawn into separate kingdoms,” Junmyeon gently reminds. “There are no vampires with fire-cores in my kingdom, but then again, I don’t have many covens. He could be from another - ”

“You’re hiding something,” Jongdae interrupts, trying to keep his voice from being too accusatory. Yixing and Baekhyun turn to him in surprise but Jongdae focuses on Junmyeon who’s shoulders slump a bit. “You only go through your hair when you’re nervous, and you’re not meeting my eye. You don’t have any vampires with fire-cores – but you know someone, don’t you. You looked surprised when Baekhyun said ‘pink eyes’.”

Junmyeon gives him a half smile. “As expected, Jongdae-ah. You always see right through me.”

Jongdae huffs. “I would have been a pretty bad Second if I couldn’t reel you in, hyung.”

Baekhyun walks forward, coming to a stop right in front of Junmyeon. “Hyung, what are you hiding?”

Jongdae knows his husband well enough to know when his patience is fraying. He comes closer as well, not quite touching Baekhyun yet because he doesn’t want to crowd him. He offers his support anyway, both of them looking at Junmyeon. Even Yixing waits quietly for Junmyeon to explain.

Seeing himself outnumbered, Junmyeon sighs. “I wasn’t trying to hide anything. I was thinking, trying to connect what I know and who I know.”

“And you know someone – an Underworlder, tall, pinked eyed and with a fire-core,” Baekhyun pushes.

Junmyeon nods. “I do know someone. But I am hoping against hope, he isn’t the one.”

Neither of them were expecting that and the resulting silence is filled with tension.

“What do you mean?” Baekhyun asks, ever as quick to get back on his feet.

Junmyeon’s eyes are serious as he looks at both of them. “I don’t want to lead you on, I need you to understand that. We don’t have enough facts and we’re stretching what we have to fit into what we know.”

Baekhyun’s fists clench. “But you do know something, hyung. Why are you hesitating so much? You know we’ve been looking for our third for years!”

Jongdae barely contains his flinch, breathing out heavily through his nose and refocusing on Baekhyun.

“Baekhyun,” Junmyeon says firmly, but kindly. “I have a picture of who you are talking about but the information that I have isn’t the best news. But keep in mind that the information itself is taken from gossip. I won’t know until I can do my own research.”

“Junmyeon hyung,” Baekhyun says, uncharacteristically serious. “Don’t hide this from us. I don’t care if all you have is gossip, anything you have, I want to know.”

Junmyeon hesitates and Jongdae doesn’t know how to describe the feeling in his gut when he ultimately shakes his head. Equal parts frustrated and relieved. 

“Let me research on this, Baekhyun. I don’t want to color your perspective of him before I know my facts. I’ll figure out if he’s dangerous, and I’ll bring him here if he isn’t.”

“We’re not kids!” Baekhyun explodes, and Jongdae’s heart nearly goes up in his throat. Baekhyun almost never yells, never at those he loves anyway. “I don’t need you to vet our third! There is no way he could be bad. The core bond is all about balance. Jongdae may be an angel but I sure as fuck am not. He’s not going to be someone we can’t handle. Please, hyung, I want to know.” Baekhyun’s voice breaks at the end of his angry plead. 

“Baek,” Jongdae whispers softly, hesitantly reaching for Baekhyun’s arm, nearly sagging in relief when Baekhyun comes easily when Jongdae tugs. 

“I’m sorry, Baekhyun,” Junmyeon says, voice contrite. “I promise you it won’t take me long. You’re my best friends, Baekhyunnie, Dae-ah. I won’t let you get hurt if I can prevent it.”

Baekhyun slumps into Jongdae’s side. There isn’t much either of them can say to that so Jongdae keeps his mouth resolutely shut. 

Junmyeon releases a soft sigh, Yixing’s hand delicately rubbing up and down his back. 

“Let’s call Yunho hyung. We need to figure out a plan of action for LORE.”

Baekhyun’s nails dig so hard into Jongdae’s waist, that he thinks his husband may break skin over the layer of their clothes. But he doesn’t protest so Jongdae hesitantly waves up at the observation deck, signalling their hyungs into the room. 

There is a period of silence as they wait for Yunho and Changmin to enter. Baekhyun is rigid in his arms, locked so tight around Jongdae, it’s as if he’s afraid Jongdae is going to disappear. Jongdae doesn’t say anything, lets Baekhyun take his comfort, cheek resting on Baekhyun’s shoulder, lost in his own thoughts. 

They’re no closer to finding their third, but at least they have a connection – a lead. Baekhyun may be upset but Jongdae knows that he trusts Junmyeon with his life, with Jongdae’s life. Junmyeon will take time out of his hectic schedule to help them out, Jongdae knows. If Junmyeon thinks their third is dangerous, Jongdae is happy to let Junmyeon act as the buffer. Baekhyun will get over it. A few more days is nothing to the years they’ve been waiting. 

A few more days. Jongdae has Baekhyun all to himself for a few more days. 

~✧*💎* ✧*⚡*✧*🔥*✧~

Unsurprisingly, Baekhyun is tense the entire walk back to their bike.

Jongdae wishes he could find the words to make Baekhyun feel better. Nearly four years of marriage and over half their lifetime together, it’s still difficult to find words that will comfort Baekhyun in the way he needs.

It’s not like Jongdae can easily say the words that _will_ comfort Baekhyun.

“We’ll find him.” It’s the best Jongdae can do.

Baekhyun makes a small noise of agreement but his pensive look doesn’t change, slipping onto the bike and cutting his face from Jongdae’s view.

Jongdae doesn’t offer anything more. He hops onto the motorcycle behind Baekhyun, slipping on his helmet.

Baekhyun’s helmet is already on. Jongdae thinks he sees a small nod, but he can’t be sure. He keeps his mouth shut, sighing softly and leaning forward to wrap his arms fully around Baekhyun. Words can’t do nearly as much as physical touch can.

Baekhyun taps Jongdae’s arm with a leathered hand. It’s a small cue between the two of them, making sure Jongdae’s holding tight as well as playfully trying to move Jongdae’s hands to lower places. But there is none of that playfulness today.

Baekhyun tears out of HQ. He barely decreases his speed as they round the bend and head up the incline to reach above ground. It’s dangerous and adrenaline inducing, but Jongdae trusts Baekhyun with his life more than he trusts himself. He tightens his hold as his stomach swoops as Baekhyun expertly maneuvers the bike and keeps himself quiet.

There is a crowd of fans, as always. Even though this was an impromptu trip, they have a knack for being able to gather at the drop of a hat. Baekhyun doesn’t even spare them a glance, none of the fanservice he’s normally willing to provide here.

Baekhyun must really be upset.

Jongdae holds tighter.

He doesn’t say anything when Baekhyun takes the roads instead of the highway. It’ll take longer to head home, but Jongdae recognizes his husband just wants to ride around, hopefully clear his head.

It’s funny how coincidences work. If they had taken the highway, they would have been home when the rifts open.

As it is, they’re in the heart of downtown.

They hear the screaming first.

Jongdae thinks he’s hearing wrong at first. Then he thinks it’s just a group of rowdy teenagers. But the pitch changes and there is no way to mistake that urgency.

Baekhyun yells, swerving right onto the sidewalk as the car in front of them slams down on the breaks.

Baekhyun’s nimble, weaving the too fast motorcycle to a stop before they can hit any pedestrians, all rushing to get out of the way as a small black hole tear through the space right in front of the Lotte Duty Free Mall, almost ten meters high.

“Jongdae!” Baekhyun says urgently, but Jongdae’s already moving. He leaps off the motorcycle and tears his helmet off for a better look. Baekhyun’s right there with him, immediately by his side and watching as the black hole gets larger and larger.

A figure emerges.

Jongdae’s fast beating heart nearly doubles in speed as a rush of fear sinks through his blood.

The figure is floating.

Only high level Underworlders can do that. If this is a –

“Demon,” Baekhyun breathes, voice almost inaudible with the screaming and screeching of pedestrians and cars around them.

Jongdae can barely blink before Baekhyun is throwing them both backwards, using his body to cover Jongdae’s as an explosion resounds through the space. Glass shatters above them and the screaming doubles, the sound of pounding footsteps adding to the frenzy surrounding them.

“It’s Baekhyun! And Chen!” Someone screams.

Jongdae looks up and over Baekhyun’s shoulder to see a teenage girl pointing at them. A few running civilians actually _slow_ down, looking over to them, their expressions changing from fear to awe.

“Baek - ” Jongdae starts to say urgently, stomach twisting in unpleasant fear.

But Baekhyun isn’t looking at him. He’s staring at the figure above them, two balls of black power rolling through his hands as he stares impassively down at the people below him.

Jongdae thinks he’s going to be sick.

“That’s him,” Jongdae whispers. There is no way he can mistake the cold beauty in the face floating above them.

The demon that attacked six weeks ago. The demon Jongdae had to go all out to defeat. The demon Jongdae thought he had killed, with the consequence of becoming Drained.

“Baekhyun, please,” Jongdae pleads, hands tightening around Baekhyun’s shoulders. He can already tell what Baekhyun is going to do.

“Stay here,” Baekhyun orders, straightening up. Jongdae scrambles to follow, hands grasping around empty air with how Baekhyun pries his hands away.

“You can’t face him alone!” Jongdae rushes to say, struggling to get a grip around Baekhyun’s bicep. “We have to wait for backup.”

As if to mock him, the demon throws one of his energy balls at the crowd of people on the opposite side of the street.

Baekhyun rocks him into the car to keep him covered as a blast of hot energy explodes a few meters away. Jongdae’s afraid to look.

This is so bad.

“We can’t wait,” Baekhyun grits through clenched teeth, hard eyes staring from Jongdae to the demon and then back down. “The civilians will die if I don’t do something.”

“Baekhyun! Listen to me, he’s too strong!” Jongdae screeches, abandoning tact. “He should be dead. You know I had to resort to _Lights Out _– it should have incinerated him! But he’s fucking here like my attack did _nothing_ and we can’t - Baekhyun, please - ” He’s cut off by Baekhyun rushing forward to plant a hard kiss on his lips. Jongdae tries to turn his face but Baekhyun is insistent, the softness of his lips missing because of how hard he is pressing into Jongdae.

Jongdae claws at Baekhyun, tries to keep him in his arms, but his hands are knocked aside. Baekhyun is already pushing away and walking backwards. “Get somewhere safe, Jongdae. You’re my priority. I’m leading him away from you.”

Baekhyun’s eyes are blazing, already glowing a soft white as he taps in his power.

Jongdae’s core aches.

“Don’t,” Jongdae pleads, rushing forward as if he can grab Baekhyun.

But Baekhyun is already leaping up.

Jongdae’s hand misses his jacket by a scant few centimeters.

“Baekhyun!” he screams.

Frustration, panic and hurt are like vices around his heart. A chain of thorns that continues to tighten around his heart with every breath as he watches Baekhyun ascend higher and higher.

But training is also taking over. There isn’t anything he can do right now for Baekhyun. But he can help in other ways.

“Get underground!” Jongdae yells at the crowd of people that are hovering around the area, phones pointed up at the sky.

A burst of energy – the shattering of glass and debris – that’s more effective than Jongdae’s words.

Jongdae whips around, heart in his throat as he watches Baekhyun push the demon into the high rise behind them. Baekhyun has a few of his own light energy balls floating around him, combatting the demon’s black ones. Jongdae watches in disbelief as the demon rises from the crater without a single scratch.

Fuck. 

Memories of fighting this same demon crash into Jongdae like a tidal wave, bringing with them the feelings of suffocating anxiety. Jongdae had been so overwhelmed, even with his team, because the demon had a partner, both of them incredibly powerful. Jongdae remembers vividly thinking he may not make it, may never see Baekhyun again. He remembers the bubbling fear in the pit of his stomach as he was pushed back, remembers the way it turned to molten lava at the realization that both demons were strong enough to kill Baekhyun - that was unbearable. 

Resorting to _Lights Out_ and calling forward a hellish lightning storm was his only option. And even then he was lucky that the rift had opened by Donghae Sea instead of a metropolis like this. 

Everything changes when you have to take into account civilian safety. Jongdae knows Baekhyun can’t go all out, not here. That leaves Baekhyun at a disadvantage with each passing moment, and that makes Jongdae struggle to keep his panic back. 

They need to relocate. 

Jongdae rushes into the awning in front of him, phone out. He taps the contact names without thinking about it.

“What the hell are you doing there, hyung?” Sehun yells, voice slightly muffled from the rush of activity behind him. Good, they must be mobilizing.

“We were heading home,” Jongdae snaps. “Tell me you’re on your way. Baekhyun’s fighting him alone!”

“I _know_. Your fucking fans are live streaming the fucking thing. ETA two mins,” Sehun growls into the receiver. Jongdae has to bite his tongue to yell at him to arrive _faster. _“Jongin is mobilizing the team.”

“It’s him,” Jongdae yells into the receiver, trying to walk backwards. There is a crowd circling around him, recognizing him. He can’t _do_ anything though. “The one I fought last time! I don’t know how, but he looks completely fine – Sehun, you need to get here _fast_!”

“We’re working on it, hyung,” Sehun tells him, slightly out of breath from how fast he must be going. “Don’t do anything stupid, Baekhyun hyung can’t be distracted. We’ll be there, I promise!”

Jongdae doesn’t have a chance to snap anything back, already listening to the dial tone.

He growls in frustration. He yells at the crowd instead. “Get to the lowest floor!”

At least they obey that.

“Are we going to die, Mr. Hero Chen?”

Jongdae’s face instantly smooths over, taking in the teary face of small boy who is clutching onto his Pororo doll, resisting the tug of his father’s arm as he carries another baby in his arms.

Jongdae gets down to his knees, wiping the boy’s eyes. “Of course not, I’m here, aren’t I? Now go with your dad and get somewhere safe. You have to protect your baby brother, don’t you?”

The boy seems instantly reassured, nodding vigorously. The dad shoots him a grateful look, heading over to the overcrowded escalator as everyone rushes down.

Just in the nick of time.

The crowd screams as the entrance implodes inwards, glass and metal flying everywhere. Jongdae throws himself down onto the floor, hands over his head.

When the last of the energy wave dissipates, Jongdae instantly leaps to his feet, rushing to get a look outside.

He _knows_ he needs to keep out of the way. He knows Baekhyun needs him to be safe. But he can’t just watch, can’t just listen to the screams of the civilians who can’t get out of the way in time. He can’t be Chen right now, but he can still be Jongdae, one of the highest ranking SSDF fighters in the last century.

Two minutes. Two minutes until Sehun and the rest of the team arrive. A lot can happen in two minutes and Jongdae will be damned if he doesn’t do his fucking best to make sure no one dies in that time frame.

The battle rages on above them, Baekhyun taking pains to keep the demon away from the people down on the ground and the people trapped in the buildings. Jongdae manages to get to a family trapped in their car and helps usher them into the mall and instructs them to head down.

He heads out again except –

Jongdae grits his teeth to keep his yell of fear in as he’s thrown to the shaking ground. The earth vibrates for a few seconds before slowing down, but Jongdae’s already up on his feet, dashing to the crater a few meters in front of him where he saw Baekhyun take a hit.

It’s only the thrumming of his core that makes him stop a fair distance away, both self-preservation and his promise to Baekhyun making him slow down and take in the situation.

Baekhyun’s on the ground, panting as he shoots concentrated barrages of light at the demon. The demon is having a hard time dodging, but there seems to be a distinct lack of care even if he does get hit.

The demon is releasing his own counterattack, small dark energy balls thrown wherever there is a break, damaging the area around Baekhyun. It’s a standoff, with the advantage in the demon’s court because he could care less about the damage he wroughts both to himself and the area around him.

Baekhyun needs a distraction – a break that will allow him a clean attack.

The demon’s been floating lower and lower, clearly seeing that Baekhyun is unwilling to attack where there might be a chance he will hit people. Baekhyun will be pinned if he gets too close.

Jongdae’s mind is already whirling, trying to think of something. A weapon. He needs a weapon.

His eyes lighten up upon spotting a police car. He rushes over. The cops are focusing on crowd control and helping any injured people towards safety.

“Your gun!” Jongdae yells at the police officer nearest to him.

She looks at him in agitation before realizing who he is. She barely hesitates, grabbing her gun from her holster and giving it to Jongdae.

“Wait!” she yells as Jongdae turns back. It’s only the bark of the order in her voice that has Jongdae stopping and facing her.

“There is a barrier – or something,” she hurries to explain. “We can’t get anyone out and no one can get in!”

Realization dawns. It’s been over two minutes and Sehun and Jongin aren’t here yet. If even Jongin can’t get in –

Fuck.

He’s torn out of his panic by Baekhyun’s scream. Heart instantly in his throat, he gives her a frenzied nod before rushing back towards the crater Baekhyun is in.

Jongdae’s eyes frantically search for his husband, before finding him crouching down near the edge of the crater, throwing out his attacks as best he can. He can’t tell if Baekhyun is injured but he can’t spare the time to confirm. He needs to get Baekhyun out of there.

The demon no longer looks as regal as he did upon opening the gate. His black clothes are torn and dirty but Jongdae can’t see any visible injuries on him. Which is fucked up because he saw the demon take on Baekhyun’s pure energy beam to his arm.

Pushing down his panic he approaches as close to the battle as he dares, careful to stay behind Baekhyun. He takes cover behind an abandoned car and forces himself to take a big breath in. The weight of the gun is familiar but foreign at the same time. He exhales, brings his arms up and lines up for the shot, waiting for his chance.

Baekhyun fires a beam of light that nearly hits the demon right in the leg. The demon barely dodges, snarling as he increases his attacks and forces Baekhyun back on the defensive.

Now.

Jongdae fires, the gun recoiling in his hand with a harsh kickback. He hasn’t had to use one of these in years, but he has the basic training – first in his class – all the same.

He’s off, but Jongdae never expected to actually hit the demon from this distance on the first try. Not like an ordinary bullet would do anything against a demon. But that isn’t what he’s trying to do. He lines up and takes another shot.

This one is closer. It could be his wishful imagination, but he thinks he sees the demon pause for a nanosecond. Instinct makes him fire again and – there!

The bullet hits the demon in the chest. Jongdae watches with satisfaction as the impact pushes the demon back, interrupting his attack.

Baekhyun immediately takes his chance. He concentrates his attack into one light beam, lining up and unleashing a powerful blast that hits the demon square in his upper body.

Jongdae watches with bated breath as the demon is catapulted into the mall. It looks empty from here – he sincerely hopes civilians were smart enough to get underground as procedure dictates.

“Jongdae!”

Jongdae’s head turns back, watching a furious Baekhyun approach him. He looks like a warrior angel with the white halo of power surrounding him, bruised but victorious. It makes Jongdae’s heart clench in pride and love.

It’s only because Baekhyun is too bright to look at – literally – that Jongdae sees it.

Oh no.

Jongdae doesn’t think. He _forces_ his core to respond to him. It’s like digging his nails into his skin and peeling the layer back. Energy pools around him for a second – painful, powerful, debilitating – and he sends it to his feet, lurching forward.

He crashes into Baekhyun before the demon can, both of them catapulting a few meters back, Baekhyun breaking their fall. The ground shakes as the demon hits the pavement where they were with a force that caters the earth.

Jongdae gasps, pain erupting under his skin – like glass shards digging into his skin and dragging down. He muffles his sob into Baekhyun’s shoulder, his husband already moving in front of him in a protective stance.

“What the fuck is he?” Baekhyun pants, as they both stare at the demon who has a fucking hole through his chest, is bleeding black blood all over himself, and is staring them down. His black eyes are eerie – they reflect no pain.

Dread pools in Jongdae’s gut. This is so far beyond the normal, Jongdae feels his panic try to overcome him at the distinct knowledge that they don’t know what they’re facing. This demon should be dead because of _Lights Out_, Jongdae’s final move that brings forward a lightning storm of catastrophic power. Even if, by some miracle, this demon healed from that attack, there is no way he should be moving with this hole in his chest. 

Demons are created out of Dead World energy, but they are still _alive_. The longer they’re away the faster the super power charge they get from Dead World fades. No matter how much Jongdae reasons, this demon shouldn’t be alive. An animated avatar maybe? How can they deal with an immortal puppet –

But it becomes immediately clear he’s not an avatar – there is a sneer of satisfaction on his lips as he stares at them – at Jongdae. 

“Found you,” he snarls. His voice is hypnotically deep but any pleasantries to be found are buried under a layer of icy hatred that is poured into that one sentence. 

Jongdae’s vision is cut off, Baekhyun moving protectively in front of him. “What do you want with him!?” he yells at the demon.

“What do I want?” the demon laughs, mocking, terrible, dangerous. “His heart in my hand, beating it’s last moment as I crush it!”

Baekhyun is absolutely vibrating in anger in front of him. “I will fucking rip your arms from your fucking sockets before you I let you near him you _fucker!”_

The demon stops laughing, the hysterical sound dying down as a pleased smile replaces the deranged one on his lips. “You’re his mate.”

Jongdae doesn’t like where this is going. His hands tighten around Baekhyun’s waist.

“Oh, this is too good. _You’re his mate!” _the demon repeats, voice unhinged. “I’ll just kill _you_. Then he’ll understand – he’ll fucking understand what it means to feel your mate die!”

No.

Jongdae barely sees what happens next. A wave of darkness comes at them, but he’s already in Baekhyun’s arms, a white light engulfing them as Baekhyun travels from one end of the street to the other.

The spot they were standing at before is completely destroyed – like acid had been poured on it.

“He’s too strong,” Jongdae whispers to Baekhyun, groaning as Baekhyun readjusts him to a proper bridal carry, feeling achy and pained. “He’s healing already – look. Baekhyun, we need to think of a plan. You need to - ”

“Keep you safe,” Baekhyun answers back, not even looking at Jongdae.

“Baekhyun, listen to me! This isn’t an ordinary demon – the way he’s fighting, the way he’s healing, he’s probably a Fallen Royal!” Jongdae has to resist the urge to shake Baekhyun to get him to understand that he can’t keep this up on his own.

Royals in the Underworld are the second strongest beings to exist under their King. Joonmyun is a Prince, and Jongdae knows firsthand how powerful he is. If this demon is anywhere near that level – if he is a Fallen Prince -

Baekhyun grits his teeth as he says, “Yeah, I figured. He’s not even trying to dodge my lower energy beams anymore.”

Dread curls in Jongdae’s stomach. Baekhyun can’t fight like this – not with him focusing on Jongdae. But he knows if Baekhyun puts him down the demon will be targeting him, which would be a worse distraction for his partner.

“Let me fight,” Jongdae whispers to Baekhyun. If Baekhyun gives him some energy, Jongdae can force his core to kick start for a few seconds. He could give Baekhyun the time he would need to unleash his ultimate attack. He could -

“I will knock you unconscious,” Baekhyun threatens, hands tightening around Jongdae waist and thighs, finally meeting his eyes with a fierce glare. “Don’t fucking try me, Jongdae.”

Jongdae doesn’t have a chance to retort. The demon is already launching another attack at them. Baekhyun leaps, dodging it easily. He’s concentrating his power on his body, letting them travel just under the speed of light. But he can’t attack like this.

“Why can’t I get you out?” Baekhyun says through gritted teeth, as he stares at the end of the street. Jongdae physically felt him slow down, power forcibly draining out of him the closer he approaches the edge.

“There is a barrier,” Jongdae informs Baekhyun, clutching onto his husband as Baekhyun is forced to double back as the demon approaches them. “No one can get in or out – I don’t know when he set it up, _how_ he set it up, but it’s just us, Baek. You need to let -”

“Shut up, Jongdae!” Baekhyun barks, fingers digging into Jongdae’s flesh. “You think I don’t see that you’re in fucking pain from that small spark you had to create to knock me out of the way? If I give you any energy and you try to fight, you’ll fucking die of exhaustion!”

“You’ll die without any support!” Jongdae retorts back, fear making his voice choked up. It’s painfully obvious the demon is toying with them, chasing Baekhyun around the area they’re trapped in.

“Trust in our team, Dae. I’m sure they’re already working on taking down the barrier,” Baekhyun pants, flitting so they’re covered temporarily behind a small food stand. “We’ll get through this. I’ll protect you.”

Jongdae closes his eyes against his rising nausea. Without his core energy cloaking him, his body can’t accommodate to the speed Baekhyun is traveling at. If this keeps up, Jongdae really will fall unconscious and that will just be a bigger burden on Baekhyun.

He almost thinks he’s passing out because black dots in his vision. But after furiously blinking they’re still there - getting bigger. 

Another hole.

Another rift.

“Baekhyun,” Jongdae warns, heart in his throat. “There is another one.”

“Fuck,” Baekhyun says with feeling, eyes jumping up to where Jongdae is pointing before darting away, forced to jump from their hiding spot as another energy ball is launched at them. “Can you call - ” but whatever Baekhyun says next, Jongdae doesn’t hear.

He stares at the new figure that emerges from the rift.

Another man, tall and beautiful like the demon in front of them. Jongdae’s eyes lock onto the face of the new figure and he feels his heart stop.

Pink eyes.

“Oh,” Jongdae exclaims weakly, feeling the world spin around him.

“Jongdae?” Baekhyun says in panic, probably feeling the stutter in their bond.

“He’s here,” Jongdae whispers to Baekhyun, feeling incredibly floaty, untouched by the urgency of the situation around him. He’s in his husband’s arms and their soulmate is here.

Their soulmate –

Baekhyun tenses. “Who?” he rasps, panting as they jump to a different spot.

Jongdae breaks eye contact at the move and clarity rushes back to him.

“Our soulmate!” Jongdae exclaims, panic rushing forward. Baekhyun’s description of their mate barely registers – new panic overtakes him, primal and instinctual. He has no idea if their mate can fight and they’re fighting a fucking demon that is probably a fucking Fallen Prince –

Baekhyun’s response is lost to Jongdae as fire – literal fire – rushes around them. He flinches instinctively, arms tightening around Baekhyun as if he can protect him. But there is no need.

The fire doesn’t touch them.

“Yifan! Stop this!”

Baekhyun hits the ground, his legs giving way. His arms tighten around Jongdae and it’s the only thing that stops him from going sprawling. They both stare at the broad back in front of them, guarding them.

“Chanyeol, get out of my way!” the demon screeches, voice sounding like nails grinding down a chalkboard, nothing like the enticing croon from the beginning.

“Yifan, you need to get a hold of yourself! Look at how you’ve Fallen! Tao wouldn’t - ”

“Tao’s dead!” the demon – Yifan – screams. “That _bug_ killed him - ”

“After you came to Earth!” their mate yells back, patience clearly worn.

“Chanyeol,” Baekhyun whispers voice so quiet Jongdae has to strain to hear it over the cackling of the fire around them. “That’s his name.”

“Zitao wanted to see it!” Yifan screams, sounding like a petulant child and a grieving man all at once. “He just wanted to see - ”

“The SSDF doesn’t attack without cause!” Chanyeol roars. “Don’t lie to me, Yifan! Fuck, I saw the signs of demonifiction but I didn’t call it because you said you had it under control. You attacked them, Yifan. You attacked, they defended and now Tao’s gone! Come back with me, Yifan, I can help - ”

“I’ll kill them – I’ll kill _him_!” Yifan screams. Jongdae clutches Baekhyun tighter as the ground beneath them shakes as Yifan draws Earth’s magic to himself.

“Yifan!” Chanyeol tries to call again but it’s no use.

All Jongdae can see is Baekhyun’s blinding white light. The next time he blinks, he and Baekhyun are on top of a roof, Chanyeol right in front of them, Baekhyun dropping his hand from Chanyeol’s shirt. There is a deafening boom that makes Jongdae’s ears ring. They wait in tense silence for a moment but no buildings collapse. Jongdae can only hope no civilians were caught up in that attack. 

“Are you okay?” Baekhyun asks Chanyeol, wheezing. Jongdae’s torn between looking at Chanyeol, so close, and worriedly trying to asses Baekhyun.

“Baek, babe, you have to let me go,” Jongdae tries to coax. Baekhyun’s arms tighten around him instead and he shakes his head.

“I can’t let him get you,” Baekhyun responds, lips on Jongdae’s temple.

“I’ll protect you, both of you.”

Jongdae shivers, turning his face to finally look at Chanyeol. The deep voice is at odds with his beautiful, youthful face. Baekhyun wasn’t waxing poetics after all. Chanyeol is breath-takingly stunning.

“I won’t let you fight alone.”

Jongdae’s head whips back to Baekhyun’s, seeing the determination in his eyes. His irises are glowing white, glinting with excitement despite the exhaustion on his face. Jongdae understands because he can feel his own body buzzing, their cores all reaching out to each other. Baekhyun’s must be ready to snap into place because Jongdae can sense that excess energy from last night, the wildness of a bond looking to connect. 

“Let me handle this,” Chanyeol urges, voice soft but steely. “Yifan was a candidate for Prince before the demonifcation took over. Losing Tao – his mate, it’s completely taken what little rationality he had – he did something in Dead World but I don’t know what. I need to take him back to the Underworld and cleanse him of the effects – otherwise this is all wasted effort.”

“I just got you back - ” Baekhyun’s hand reaches for Chanyeol’s face.

Jongdae is quicker, snatching Baekhyun’s hand back. “Don’t touch him!”

Two pairs of eyes snap to him. His breath is ragged as he explains, “We can’t afford to lose ourselves right now, Baekhyun.”

“Baekhyun,” Chanyeol repeats, voice breathless. His hands hover, looking as if he will reach for them, before dropping them with a beaming grin.

Baekhyun smiles weakly at Chanyeol. “Hi.”

Chanyeol's eyes shift to him. "And you-"

“Look out!” Jongdae yells as Yifan rises behind Chanyeol. Chanyeol immediately responds, wall of fire erupting between the three of them and Yifan's attack. 

Baekhyun dodges backwards, tapping into his power fast but still a beat too late. A dark energy ball penetrates the wall and hits the roof and explodes. It catches them and Baekhyun skids to the other end of the roof, rolling them protectively so he takes the brunt of the impact.

“Baekhyun!” Jongdae calls out worriedly once the world stops spinning. He gets to his knees, as Baekhyun groans, curling into himself, scrapped everywhere. His forearms are bleeding the worst, but he has a severe scratch on his temple as well that concerns Jongdae. “Baekhyun!” he calls again, worried when Baekhyun is slow to blink up to him, blood pooling around his eye.

“Chanyeol?” Baekhyun rasps, trying to get on his hands and knees. Jongdae goes to help him, valiantly trying to ignore the wave of vertigo that hits him.

“He’s fighting the demon,” Jongdae explains after a quick look over his shoulder.

“I need to help him,” Baekhyun groans, trying to stand up.

“Stay down!” Jongdae snaps, worriedly going to the wound on Baekhyun’s temple.

“I can’t believe I got distracted,” Baekhyun snarls to himself, eyes alight with anger as he captures Jongdae’s hand, tugging it away. He looks over Jongdae’s shoulder, seeing what Jongdae saw a second ago.

Chanyeol and Yifan are fighting in the air. Chanyeol is _fast_, weaving around Yifan’s quick attacks. But the attacks Chanyeol throws back – brilliant as they are – are doing almost no damage. Yifan doesn’t scream at the singed flesh, doesn’t seem to care for the smoke that blinds him.

“He’s not trying to kill him,” Jongdae tells Baekhyun after a moment of observation.

Chanyeol is holding back.

“They know each other,” Baekhyun says back. “Maybe they were friends? But why is he friends with a demon?”

Jongdae’s hands twitch by his sides, feeling frustrated and helpless as Chanyeol runs circles around Yifan, deftly dodging the worst of the strikes but still taking damage.

His palm finds his core, absolutely furious at how helpless he is. Relying on Baekhyun and now this stranger – their mate –

Baekhyun’s hand finds his, his lips hot on Jongdae’s ear as he seethes, “Don’t even think about it.”

Jongdae resists the urge to shove Baekhyun back, settling for yanking his hand out of Baekhyun’s.

“Can you call Sehun?” Jongdae asks Baekhyun. He lost his phone at some point.

Baekhyun pats his pockets before handing Jongdae a phone, cracked. Jongdae gives it a tap but the screen doesn’t respond.

“Fuck,” he says with feeling. “How long could he possibly keep up the barrier?” Jongdae asks Baekhyun with a worried frown.

Baekhyun’s hazy eyes light with understanding.

“He found you,” Baekhyun says slowly, “so he’s trying to trap you here. Keep the SSDF out.”

“But he’s strong enough to fight you, fight Chanyeol _and_ keep Jonginnie out?” Jongdae asks incredulously, feeling a new stirring of panic envelop him.

Baekhyun is already grimacing, getting up on his feet.

“He’s fought me and Chanyeol separately – if we fight him together, his concentration might slip enough and Jongin can take the opportunity to get in.”

Above them, the sounds of collisions are only getting worse. Chanyeol is clearly trying his best to subdue Yifan without trying to kill him.

“Baekhyun,” Jongdae pleads weakly, but even he knows how dire the situation is.

Chanyeol won’t kill Yifan. Yifan wants to kill them. Baekhyun isn’t getting any backup and they have at least a block wide of citizens to protect.

“Don’t you fucking dare come after me.” Baekhyun glares at him warningly.

Everything inside him is screaming to hold onto to Baekhyun, to push the miniscule energy he has inside him to his core and _help_. But there is nothing he could do with that energy other than send himself into cardiac arrest.

He is helpless.

Jongdae swallows. “Come back to me.”

Baekhyun gives him a wide smile. “As if I am going to miss out on the hot sex. I’ll bring Chanyeol back with me.”

That gets a weak smile out of Jongdae.

Baekhyun turns around, white energy already enveloping him. Jongdae watches in bated breath as Baekhyun unleashes a light beam at Yifan just as the demon tries to unleash a ball of energy at a panting Chanyeol.

Anxiety clutches hold of him as he watches his husband and mate fight Yifan.

It’s beautiful, how easily the two of them fit together. Chanyeol takes in close range fighting and Baekhyun supports him from the back, similar to how he and Baekhyun fight. Chanyeol doesn’t have as much speed as Jongdae does but Baekhyun easily compensates, allowing Chanyeol to deal the heavier hits.

It seems having Baekhyun at his back makes Chanyeol decide to try harder. He’s not holding back as much. Yifan is taking more damage, especially near the hole in his chest. Chanyeol and Baekhyun are trying to back him into a corner.

But Jongdae sees what they can’t. He sees the trap Yifan is leading them to.

“Baekhyun!” Jongdae screams in panic as Yifan changes the trajectory of his energy balls. Instead of attacking Chanyeol who is in front of him, he aims for the pillar behind Baekhyun.

Jongdae watches with trepidation as the pillar crumbles, the debris knocking into Baekhyun.

Chanyeol is distracted, immediately flying after Baekhyun. 

And Jongdae knows.

Between one breath and the next, Yifan is in front of him.

He’s tall, taller than Chanyeol and absolutely intimidating. The black of his eyes are so dark it’s almost hard to see them. The blood and wounds on his body make him look menacing in the way they hardly faze him. And his beautiful, cold face – it’s twisted into a smile.

“There you are,” Yifan croons.

Faster than Jongdae can breathe, a hand is wrapped around his throat.

Jongdae chokes, the pressure instantly cutting off most of his air supply. Yifan can crush him easily, with a muscle twitch, but he isn’t.

“Zitao is – was - a greedy little thing,” Yifan tells him, slowly dragging Jongdae’s body up until his feet aren’t touching the ground. Jongdae’s hands scrabble to claw at Yifan’s arms but the demon is unfazed. “He wanted to see the Earth’s magic, wanted to feel it for himself. We got a bit carried away, sure, but you didn’t have to _kill_ him!”

Jongdae doesn’t have enough air to scream as Yifan’s hand bears down, cutting off all his air. His other hand flits over Jongdae’s torso, his cold fingers tearing up his shirt to bare his core mark to the world.

“Such a powerful little bug,” Yifan sneers, fingers digging in cruelly, tracing down Baekhyun’s mark in a red line of blood before he stops over the patterns of Jongdae’s mark.

The cold of his fingers switches to searing hot and Jongdae’s scream is silent as Yifan creates a small energy ball right over Jongdae’s mark.

Jongdae’s panicked mind latches onto something. Energy – it’s energy –

His vision is already going hazy, his eyes already in acute pain as they bulge from the pressure. His body aches, his head feels like it’s going to be torn off his body – his instincts scream to fight, to tap into his core, but his core won’t respond because it’s drained of energy.

But what Yifan has against his skin, against his core mark, is pure dark energy.

He has to try.

Jongdae operates on instinct, opening his channels to absorb Yifan’s energy. It’s vile, it’s twisted, it’s _painful_ but it’s still energy.

Jongdae jumpstarts his core and covers himself in lightning. The hands around Yifan’s arms glow with concentrated energy and sear into the flesh, ripping it apart with a surge of energy.

Yifan’s scream of pain is a melodious sound.

Jongdae drops to the ground, coughing violently as he struggles to get air into his lungs. His head is dizzy with pain, the world feels completely out of focus, but Jongdae can’t stop to think about it.

It’s not rational thought but pure primal fear that has Jongdae lunging back up from where Yifan dropped him, his lightning coated hand faded from the normal teal into a dark purple, plunging straight through Yifan’s hardened skin and into his chest. He unleashes a massive charge of electricity and watches through disassociated eyes as Yifan’s black eyes are overtaken with red before they rupture, Yifan’s entire upper body exploding outwards a second later from Jongdae’s attack.

Hot blood and gore splatters all over Jongdae, but he barely feels it.

He can barely feel anything.

“Jongdae! No, Jongdae, please!”

Jongdae hears Baekhyun’s scream, sees his white enveloped body lunge towards him, Chanyeol hot behind him.

He falls into his husband’s arms, a dull grey already overtaking his vision. Baekhyun’s shaking, screaming something at Jongdae but he can’t hear him. Something prompts him to shift his eyes from Baekhyun over to Chanyeol, taking in the panic and pure agony in his eyes.

“Take care of him,” Jongdae tries to say. He can’t hear his own voice. He hopes he said that audibly enough.

But the way Baekhyun’s bond sings inside him in tortured anguish tells him the message got through. He turns his eyes back to Baekhyun, feeling the apathy inside him twist to regret at seeing the white glowing eyes full of panicked devastation. 

It’s the only thing Jongdae can see now, everything else dulling down. 

He realizes he’s dying but the thought seems so foreign.

But Baekhyun is safe. That’s all that matters.

“Love you,” Jongdae mouths, sending all of his strength into doing that even when his body is already not listening to him. He needs Baekhyun to know.

He can’t see anything now, can’t really hear anything either. But he feels Baekhyun inside of him, and with the last of his strength tries to brush their energies together one last time.

It’s the warmth of that touch that Jongdae drifts off to.

~✧*💎* ✧*⚡*✧*🔥*✧~

A blaze.

The warmth is so foreign but it feels so _right. _He tries to clutch at it, but it fizzles out. His heart stutters feeling a keen sense of loneliness.

Light.

Jongdae reaches for it, seeing the smallest area of _not black_ \- he needs it, needs that light -

He’s so cold.

As if in answer, the warmth is back, blazing hotter than ever. The light burns brighter and brighter.

Safe.

He feels safe.

~✧*💎* ✧*⚡*✧*🔥*✧~

Jongdae wakes up slowly, in increments. It’s not the first time he has woken up because he remembers crying and pain and cold.

But this is the first time Jongdae’s woken up and understands he is awake.

It’s a fight to open his eyes because it feels as if there is a weighted ton blanket draped over him, trying to press him back. But he knows he needs to wake up, yearns for it.

“Jongdae?”

Jongdae recognizes that voice, but only distantly. He’s heard it before, but he doesn’t remember where. Surely, would know the owner of a voice as beautiful as this?

“Jongdae, shh, you’re okay,” the voice croons and Jongdae hadn't even realized he’d been whimpering until there is a soft touch to his cheek, a tender caress to keep him grounded.

He wins the fight and opens his eyes.

Pink eyes.

It comes to him slowly, confusion slowly lifting, placing the beautiful, soft face hovering above his own, wide eyes expressive in their worry.

Oh.

The name comes easily.

“C-Chanyeol?” Jongdae croaks weakly, wincing at the sound of how hoarse his voice is.

Chanyeol gives him a weak smile, thumb tracing a pattern over Jongdae’s cheekbone. “Hi, cutie.”

The teasing tone in his voice, it’s achingly familiar. It’s something Baekhyun would say.

Jongdae’s stomach swoops in panic, eyes going from a languid half-lidded gaze to wide open.

His body responds instinctively, trying to get up and look for his husband.

Except he can’t move.

One of Chanyeol’s hands keeps his shoulders pinned, the other cups Jongdae’s chin warningly. Jongdae’s breath catches at the heavy pressure, hazy brain slowly realizing how strong Chanyeol is. Despite the displayed power, it’s the heated look Chanyeol sends his way that truly makes him feel trapped.

It only occurs to him as the cold hand on his cheek seeps away his warmth that Chanyeol is touching him.

Oh fuck -

Jongdae winces as something tightens around his waist. Chanyeol must see the look because he guides Jongdae’s chin down, forcing his eyes to see what he hadn’t registered before.

Baekhyun lays on top of him, sleeping with his head resting on Jongdae’s torso, an ear pressed to his heart. The sight makes him soften with affection until his brain catches up with what his brain is seeing. 

Baekhyun’s naked. Love bites cover over the expanse of skin Jongdae can see and he has no doubt there is more underneath where the sheet is pulled up over Baekhyun’s ass.

Jongdae’s mind buzzes in confusion, staring almost uncomprehendingly at the work done on Baekhyun.

He hadn’t done that.

“We needed to complete the bond,” Chanyeol whispers to Jongdae, tipping his chin back up so Jongdae is staring at Chanyeol’s eyes again. They’re dark with what Jongdae is thinking is anger. “Because if we didn’t combine our bond, you’d be dead.”

Right.

There is a sour taste in the back of Jongdae’s mouth that has nothing to do with the fact that he -

“You nearly_ died_,” Chanyeol hisses, fingers digging into Jongdae’s jaw and to Jongdae’s horror, he sees a film of tears over Chanyeol’s eyes. “28 years I’ve been waiting for my soulmates and the first time I see them, the first time I _touch_ them, one of them is dying in front of me.”

“I - ” Jongdae has no idea what to say. His head hurts, memories slowly returning of the fight, details filling in what his brain was too muddled to figure out a few moments ago, what he’d been trying to disassociate from.

But his mind is relentless, recalling the information in factual order regardless of the yawning pit of anxious horror that opens in Jongdae’s gut. They’d fought the demon because he’d come back. Baekhyun protecting him. Chanyeol showing up. He couldn’t _breathe _–

“Jongdae? Jongdae!”

There it is, the voice Jongdae needed to hear the most.

“Hyung,” Jongdae whimpers, voice coming out as a pathetic mewl. Hot on its heels is a despondent sob.

Baekhyun scrambles upwards, knees sliding across the bed and landing him ungracefully in Jongdae’s chest. Jongdae couldn’t care less, heavy arms immediately going up to wrap themselves around Baekhyun’s frame, clutching him desperately.

Baekhyun’s already cradling Jongdae, lifting him off the sheets as he pulls Jongdae as tight as he can into his chest. Jongdae doesn’t even care for the ungraceful position, nose smushed against Baekhyun’s throat. For the first time since he woke up he feels like he can breathe again.

“Shh, you’re okay, Jongdae-ah. We’re here,” Baekhyun soothes, lips pressing into Jongdae’s ears as he whispers comforting words over and over again until Jongdae’s chest doesn’t feel tight, like he isn’t going to throw up if he swallows wrong, like he’s going to close his eyes and black is going to be there again.

Jongdae nearly jumps as a too-large hand is placed over his back.

“Jongdae,” Chanyeol says warmly, hand rubbing soothingly over his back. “Don’t cry. I promise I will protect you. Nothing like that will ever happen again, I swear it.” Chanyeol’s voice gets thick and low with his promise, practically a growl. It makes Jongdae reel, caught off guard with the level of conviction in Chanyeol’s voice.

Chanyeol’s hand travels up until it rests between his shoulder blades. Jongdae doesn’t get it until he feels the _heat_.

“Oh,” Jongdae sighs in pleasure, voice catching in his hiccupped sob. His body responds instinctively, sinking into Baekhyun’s arms as some tension recedes, Chanyeol’s energy transferring into the core-mark on his back.

Baekhyun doesn’t loosen his hold at all, small kisses pressing to the side of Jongdae’s neck and face, wherever he can reach. Chanyeol doesn’t do more than stroke his flesh, but through his haze, Jongdae realizes his other hand must be touching Baekhyun in some way.

They stay like that for some time, until Jongdae’s eyes feel lidded with sleep again. But he doesn’t want to sleep, not now that he’s finally awake. Not now that he realizes he’ll see black eyes before he drifts off.

He pulls back just a bit, unsurprised that Baekhyun won’t let him go. He is surprised that Chanyeol also brackets him closer until he seems to get what Jongdae wants. Non verbally, they rearrange themselves, Chanyeol helpfully propping up the pillows on the headboard so Jongdae can lounge back, cradled in Baekhyun’s arms, facing Chanyeol.

Jongdae’s about to ask the important questions when Baekhyun’s hand slips down his torso, detouring to the mark on Jongdae’s chest. His husband sends a pulse of energy through the bond. Jongdae’s never thought too closely about the fizzle of energy other than ‘warm’ and ‘home’ but now that he’s experienced Chanyeol’s energy, he can’t describe Baekhyun’s energy as anything other than ‘pure’.

It makes his body immediately perk up, full of both his mates’ magical essence. Of all things, arousal makes his stomach dip and he can’t help his breathy moan. 

All at once, he remembers the bite marks on Baekhyun’s body.

“You bonded,” Jongdae says, careful to keep his voice from being accusatory. It’s not too hard, he’s so exhausted it’s hard to summon the emotions he thinks he should be feeling.

Baekhyun drops his hand until it’s hovering over Jongdae’s core mark, thumb playing with Jongdae’s belly button.

Baekhyun hums in Jongdae’s ear, and Jongdae knows Baekhyun long enough to hear the challenge in that small noise.

“Yes,” Baekhyun responds, voice low and flat. “We needed too so we could keep you alive.”

Jongdae shudders, eyes slipping closed to avoid Chanyeol’s hardened gaze. He can’t escape the way Baekhyun crowds into him, making sure every bit of his flesh is pressing against Jongdae’s.

“How?” Jongdae finally asks, licking his dry lips. He opens them up and stares straight at Chanyeol. He can’t manage more than that but luckily Baekhyun knows him inside and out.

“When you killed the demon,” Jongdae catches the way Chanyeol tenses, but Baekhyun continues on, “the barrier dropped. Jongin was at our side in seconds. He saw you – saw us, and teleported us straight to Yixing.”

Baekhyun laughs mirthlessly. “He grabbed me and you, probably didn’t even see Chanyeol or just wrote him off. If Chanyeol wasn’t touching me, he wouldn’t have been teleported, and you’d be dead.”

Chanyeol’s carefully keeping his face neutral, but he can see the same protective anger from before. This is the second time that his husband has brought up Jongdae’s near death and Jongdae is quickly realizing the presence of volcanic anger that is simmering under Baekhyun’s skin.

“Baek - ” Jongdae tries to offer some words of comfort, only to be silenced by Baekhyun’s head burrowing into the juncture of Jongdae’s neck and shoulder, heavy breathing effectively cutting Jongdae off.

“Chanyeol was thinking because I wasn’t. I was in shock, you know. Because I felt you die. Your core just stopped resonating inside me. You were gone.”

Jongdae’s breathing stops, heart stuttering in his chest at the pure pain in Baekhyun’s voice. He feels like a vice of thorns wrapped around his heart, squeezing tighter and tighter at each of Baekhyun’s shuddering breaths.

“Baekhyun,” Jongdae chokes out, gut clenching when he feels tears in his shoulders. “I’m here. I’m here, Baek, hyung, I’m here,” he says desperately, overwhelmed at the way Baekhyun’s slowly loses it, loud wracking sobs overtaking the room.

And then Chanyeol is there, sliding into the space in front of Jongdae, radiating warmth so pleasant that Jongdae realizes he’s tapping into his core. He uses his broad chest to cradle Jongdae closer so he can get to Baekhyun, large hand running through Baekhyun’s hair and down his neck.

Chanyeol makes consoling sounds but lets Baekhyun cry it out. Jongdae tries to turn around to hold Baekhyun in his arms, but Chanyeol stops him, that same deceptive strength keeping him in place. It makes Jongdae irrationally angry, and he tries to struggle to prove a point, only to halt when Baekhyun makes a wounded noise and hugs Jongdae tighter to himself, so tight that Jongdae’s ribs feel like they may snap.

Chanyeol picks up the story, deep voice acting like a balm to all of Jongdae’s rampant emotions.

“Baekhyun was trying to pour energy into you to kickstart your core, but he wasn’t strong enough. I wasn’t thinking, it just made the most sense. I touched Baekhyun and you to initiate our bond and just poured everything I had into you. I don’t think even that would have been enough if we didn’t have your friend Yixing.”

Jongdae tries to wrap his head around it. Tries to picture a sobbing Baekhyun bent over his body, Chanyeol hovering over them both and reaching out to initiate first touch while both his mates were completely lost within themselves.

“Your heart stopped,” Chanyeol struggles to say after a moment, breathing heavily at the pained noise Baekhyun makes. “Yixing had to restart it while we were feeding you energy. He’s powerful,” Chanyeol makes a small noise like a laugh, though it sounds completely displaced in the situation, “and smart. He figured out it was the black energy stopping you from healing. So, then this one,” Chanyeol playfully pokes a still sobbing Baekhyun, “nearly Drains himself throwing out all his light energy into you. And it worked.” This time Chanyeol’s laughter is staggered, breaths stilled with tearful voice. “You’re alive.”

“I’m alive,” Jongdae repeats, because it’s all he can focus on. He takes a deep breath to process that. It’s hard to think of the fact that he was ever dead, even though there is a cold curl of fear in his belly every time he closes his eyes too long.

Later. He’ll think about this later.

“Baekhyun,” Jongdae calls gently, and this time when Jongdae turns, Chanyeol helps him. It places Chanyeol at his back and Jongdae pauses for a split second, realizing how Chanyeol’s large body frames him perfectly.

He immediately shrugs that thought away. It’s not important.

Jongdae gathers a still crying Baekhyun in his arms, kissing his face and wherever he can reach. A small spark of irritation runs through him as Chanyeol joins him in trying to calm Baekhyun down.

This leads to realization number two.

“You bonded,” Jongdae repeats again, pausing as the realization of that sinks in. He looks over his shoulder at Chanyeol. “You fucked my husband.”

Chanyeol freezes and Baekhyun’s breathing stutters. For the first time in a few minutes, Baekhyun looks at Jongdae, red rimmed eyes blazing with fury.

“He fucked his soulmate,” Baekhyun corrects heatedly, voice raspy from the force of his sobs, breaking away from Jongdae before his face twists and he tucks himself back into Jongdae’s arms. “Don’t accuse him of anything. We needed to complete the bond – and he – he was the only thing keeping me together, Jongdae.”

Jongdae swallows. “How long?”

Baekhyun raises a challenging eyebrow. “You’ve been unconscious for nearly four days.”

Four days.

Baekhyun and Chanyeol have been fucking for four days.

“Has the bond settled?” Jongdae asks, swallowing past a lump in his throat. 

Baekhyun tenses at Jongdae, eyes guarded in a way Jongdae hasn’t seen in years. 

It’s Chanyeol who answers. “It’s complete between Baekhyun and me. I think all the extra energy the bond created went towards healing your core. We,” Chanyeol breaks off, an unsure look overcoming his face. “We kept in constant contact with you to channel the energy.” 

Jongdae immediately understands. “You fucked my husband while I was laying on this bed.” 

Chanyeol flinches as if struck. Baekhyun is the one who reels back. 

“Jongdae!” Baekhyun admonishes, practically yelling at Jongdae. 

And Jongdae can’t handle that right now. 

“Can you leave me alone?” 

Baekhyun’s eyes well with tears again. “What is wrong with you? Why are you trying to push us – me, away? You nearly - ” 

“Died, yeah, I get it,” Jongdae says through gritted teeth, eyes falling closed so he doesn’t have to see Baekhyun’s upset face. “And then I open my eyes and the first thing I see is my soulmate freshly fucked by a stranger.” 

That’s not it, not really. Jongdae’s scared and terrified by what his overwhelmed mind is throwing at him, but he can’t help but lash out. He’s never wanted a third and here he lays behind Jongdae, his marks proudly displayed over Jongdae’s husband. It’s tangible, it’s real, it’s what he can focus on.

Chanyeol rushes to get up. The way he his weight leaves the bed makes it dip unevenly and Jongdae’s disgruntled by how much he hates he’s not in the safe cradle anymore. 

Fuck, he’s really messed up.

“I’ll come back later,” Chanyeol says, tone flat. 

“Chanyeol, wait!” Baekhyun calls, scrambling to follow after him.

Jongdae refuses to admit how his heart stings at the way Baekhyun sounds like he’s breaking. He turns over to his side, instinctively going to the warm spot Chanyeol left and curling into a tight ball. 

“Jongdae, what the fuck!” Baekhyun cries, voice hiccupping on another sob. “He’s not a stranger, he’s our soulmate! There isn’t any need to have your fucking guard up!”

“Go after him, then,” Jongdae says pettily, drawing the comforter up over his head. He’s so cold. 

Baekhyun is quiet for so long but Jongdae knows better than to assume that Baekhyun’s already left. 

“I’ll give you the space you want,” Baekhyun finally says, haltingly, what feels like hours later. Jongdae knows Baekhyun enough to hear the seething anger being kept at bay. At least one of them is mature enough to hold themselves back. “Sleep it off, Jongdae. I’ll be back later.”

Jongdae only lets the first tears fall from his eyes when he hears the door click shut. 

~✧*💎* ✧*⚡*✧*🔥*✧~

When Jongdae jerks awake the next time, he hadn’t even realized he’d fallen asleep. His heart pounds furiously in his chest and his breath catches, black eyes slowly fading from his mind’s eyes.

He sinks into the touch that woke him up without a second thought. A terrified sob catches in his throat and he shudders. The hand on his back trails up and forward until Jongdae is being pulled back into a strong chest. 

It takes a moment to place that it isn’t Baekhyun, another longer to realize it’s Yixing, and that’s only when a gentle cooling sensation washes over him.

“Shh, Jongdae-ya,” Yixing whispers soothingly, cradling Jongdae close between his arms.

Jongdae doesn’t know if it’s the black terror that’s fresh on his mind or the dawning realization Baekhyun isn’t here, but he can’t hold back his tears.

“Hyung,” Jongdae cries pathetically, crying terribly as Yixing gathers him close and holds him through the worst of his emotional outburst.

It feels like hours later when Jongdae’s mind finally feels clear, so completely exhausted he can’t even make tears anymore. His head is pounding furiously, eyes stinging so much that there is no doubt they’re swollen. He’s made a mess of Yixing’s shirt with damp sweat, snot and drool but his hyung doesn’t falter, soothingly caressing Jongdae’s head.

Jongdae doesn’t even have to ask. As soon as his breathing levels out a bit, Yixing’s hand is there, delicately tipping Jongdae’s head back. Jongdae’s eyes flutter closed as the feeling of Yixing’s healing gently lays over him, alleviating his headache and swollen eyes like they were never there.

“Better?” Yixing asks kindly.

Jongdae nods, unable to meet Yixing’s eyes. “Sorry,” he murmurs.

Yixing’s hold tightens. “Don’t you dare apologize, Jongdae-ya.” Carefully he moves closer, lips pressed to Jongdae’s forehead. “My Jongdae, I was so scared, every breath you take, I need it. Need to feel it.”

Jongdae pulls back when he realizes the way Yixing’s choking on his words. Wordlessly, he thumbs the silent tears from Yixing’s eyes.

“I’m sorry,” Jongdae repeats again, helplessly. He made Yixing cry.

Yixing gives him a thin smile. “What did I just say, Dae? I don’t need your apologies. Ever.”

“But you’re upset,” Jongdae says, voice breaking. Yixing notices, hands tracing down to Jongdae’s throat, sending a pulse of energy to Jongdae’s swollen throat and healing it up.

“I’m happy, Jongdae,” Yixing explains. “I’ve been so worried. We all were. Junmyeonnie was here a few days ago, wouldn’t leave until you were stable. I’ll call him back when I regain some of my energy - ”

Jongdae jumps in, “Are you hurt, ge? Did I - ”

“Jongdae,” Yixing interrupts him before he can get started on a rant. “I am fine. I won’t lie to you,” Yixing leans forward to place a chaste kiss on Jongdae’s forehead, “I was exhausted after I healed you, but that was because we had to summon Myeonnie before. He helped heal me while you were recovering. I’m alright, but I’m focusing just on you.”

Jongdae looks at Yixing unsurely. “You don’t have to, ge. I’m fine now. I’m sure you have more important - ”

“Kim Jongdae,” Yixing says warningly, beautiful, dewy eyes narrowing in frustration. “You are the most important thing to me right now. Unless Sehunnie or Jonginnie or Baekhyunee burst through the room and tell me they’re dying, I don’t care.”

Stupidly, that brings a fresh wave of tears to Jongdae’s eyes. “Hyung,” Jongdae whimpers in lieu of apologizing.

Yixing’s eyes soften instantly, bringing Jongdae in so he can pepper kisses over Jongdae’s face. Jongdae basks in the intimacy, soaking up each easy kiss and letting it act as a balm for his hurt heart.

“I need to talk to you about some important things,” Yixing tells him cautiously after a moment. “But if you’re too tired, I want you to sleep.”

Jongdae’s exhausted but it’s more of a state of being than any real tiredness. He shrugs as best as he can in Yixing’s arms. “I don’t want to go to sleep,” Jongdae admits after some thought.

Yixing nods, immediately understanding in a way that only he ever could, always the most empathetic of their little group.

“Therapy,” Jongdae immediately tenses at the word, but Yixing continues on, “is one of the things we need to discuss. Don’t bother trying to protest, Dae-ya,” Yixing says warningly at the pout he sees forming on Jongdae’s lips, “Boa noona already knows. You won’t be on active duty until you go and are cleared.”

Jongdae slumps in defeat. He contemplates biting Yixing’s collarbones for a second, and that thought makes him lighten a bit. He hasn’t thought of anything non-depressing since he woke up.

“What else?” Jongdae asks resignedly.

Yixing tilts Jongdae’s head back up so they’re face to face. “Tell me why Baekhyun is so upset.”

Jongdae instantly tenses. “Well, I did almost die,” Jongdae says bitterly, repeating the only words that seem to be thrown in his face the past few hours.

But Yixing gives him a look that cuts through the bullshit. “I’ve known you both too long for you to avoid the question, Jongdae-ya. I saw Baekhyun at his worst, looking like he was going to follow right after you. That level of grief isn’t comparable to this simple ‘upset’.”

Follow right after him?

Dread settles in the pit of his stomach, cold and slimy.

Yixing looks at him, expression carefully neutral. “He was a mess, but I was too focused on you to monitor him carefully. Myeonnie was too busy taking control of SSDF after the disaster. Chanyeol,” Jongdae flinches at the name, “he was the only thing keeping Baekhyun together.”

Yixing doesn’t miss Jongdae’s reaction. “That is why I am confused,” Yixing starts hesitantly, “because you should be solidifying the bond between the three of you right now but you’re all keeping away from each other and crying.”

Jongdae remains silent, struggling to put his feelings into words to explain them to Yixing. He contemplates not saying anything, just rolling the blanket over his head and turning away from this all. But he can’t run forever and Yixing has always been his closest friend after Baekhyun.

“He’s mine,” Jongdae says after a while.

Yixing hums, a small nudge for him to go on, as he strokes the nape of Jongdae’s neck to help relax him. Jongdae appreciates the grounding touch, especially since he has to open up the carefully compartmentalized box, he’s locked down for the past few days – years.

“If Chanyeol came when we were younger,” Jongdae starts to say but then pauses to find the right words, “I would have made room for him. But I’ve had almost half my life with just Baekhyun by my side. He’s mine. And now Chanyeol’s here, and he hasn’t done anything to earn Baekhyun’s love. But Baekhyun’s already falling for him.” Jongdae’s throat feels sticky again, emotion roiling through him.

He feels petty and jealous and small, like the lowest person on Earth for trying to covet and steal Baekhyun just for himself. Baekhyun is the brightest light, shines brilliantly for the rest of the world to admire and understand how lucky they are to have him in their presence. But Jongdae’s the only one that gets to _have_ him.

“Baekhyun has a lot of love to give,” Yixing says after a moment. Jongdae shrugs, mood dropping at Yixing’s neutral tone. Foolishly, he’d been hoping Yixing would unconditionally take his side. “You’ve always known you’d have a third, Jongdae-ya. I think the difference is that Baekhyun was carefully keeping a place in his heart open for him and you gave all of yours to Baekhyun.”

There is something about the image Yixing paints that has Jongdae feeling tearful again. Because Jongdae has put his everything into Baekhyun. Despite the black curl of terror that lays dormant in his belly, he would do it all again, give his life up all over again, if it meant Baekhyun could be safe. For Jongdae, Baekhyun is his entire world. To hear his second biggest fear – that he isn’t Baekhyun’s – said out loud makes him think he can hear his heart ripping into two.

Jongdae’s always known Baekhyun wanted their third. It wouldn’t take death for Jongdae to make sure Baekhyun is happy. He’d do anything for his husband, even if it meant pretending to get along with a third person.

He just never expected the realization that Baekhyun would welcome their third so easily, so readily, to hurt so much. Almost half their lives spent with each other exclusively, and Baekhyun would fuck a stranger right next to Jongdae’s body.

“My Jongdae,” Yixing coos, holding Jongdae still while he tries to bury his head. Jongdae’s cried more times in the past 24 hours than he has in years, and the humiliation and neediness is finally getting to him. “Don’t hide, darling. I want you to release your emotions, not bottle them up.”

“What if Baekhyun leaves me?”

The thought slips out of Jongdae’s mouth before he can call it back, his worst fear out in the open. Because the truth is, Jongdae can accept if he isn’t Baekhyun’s world, as long as he can have a piece of Baekhyun’s heart. But what if Baekhyun decides he doesn’t need Jongdae? That he prefers their third? After all, Chanyeol is gorgeous and strong and a vampire, a supernatural that Baekhyun’s always been obsessed with. The perfect man for Baekhyun -

“Jongdae-ya,” Yixing sighs, tone fond and exasperated at the same time. “I don’t know how you can be this blind. Baekhyun’s entire _universe_ revolves around you. Chanyeol isn’t going to change that. He’s just going to join Baekhyun, caught up in your orbit.”

Yixing’s words feel placating rather than truthful, and a distant part of Jongdae realizes he’s spiraling fast to a rock bottom he shouldn’t hit.

“I don’t want him,” Jongdae whispers into Yixing’s collarbone. “I just want things to go back to the way they were.”

Yixing pulls Jongdae back this time. His eyes are soft with emotion and the way he tenderly cups Jongdae’s face has him swallowing all over again. “Jongdae, I don’t think you understand. Chanyeol isn’t just Baekhyun’s. He’s yours too. And you’re his.”

“I don’t know him,” Jongdae hisses, “and he doesn’t know me. The first conversation I’ll ever have with him will be from a life and death battle and the second will be accusing him of fucking my husband on my bed, while I laid there. I don’t exactly think that is what he’s been waiting for, Yixing hyung.”

Yixing sighs, but remains cool, not rising to Jongdae’s temper. “Your first conversation will be him coming to your aid, Jongdae. And I am sure the first thing out of your mouth wasn’t an accusation, darling. Though, I do hope you apologize for that.”

“How would you feel if Junmyeon hyung fucked someone else on your bed,” Jongdae asks heatedly. He knows he’s misplacing his anger, that Yixing, of all people, doesn’t deserve it. But he can’t help it. He has too many emotions trapped inside him and he needs to lash out. 

But Yixing just assess him calmly. “We’d talk about it, Jongdae-ya. He would never invite someone without me knowing. And if he did, I love him too much to not at least ask for an explanation. But, darling, that situation is _nothing_ compared to yours. They needed to transfer energy into you, Jongdae,” Yixing explains, voice edging with emotion. “I don’t want to keep repeating it, but you don’t understand how close we were to losing you. I could heal your physical wounds, but I couldn’t heal your core or your exhaustion. Without them pouring their energy into you in the bursts that they did, I don’t know - ”

Yixing cuts himself off, biting his lip. Jongdae can’t find the words to respond so he waits out Yixing’s heavy breathing, watches him regain control of himself.

“You knew you had a third, knew they would come someday,” Yixing continues. “He’s your _third_, Dae-ah, not Baekhyun’s second. He’s yours too, my darling. I was wrong to ask you to apologize without considering your feelings, but please understand, Jongdae. There was no other choice. If Baekhyun was here, I am sure he would tell you he would do it again and again if it meant you’d stay alive. Tell me you wouldn’t do the same if it was Baekhyun laying there, depending on your bond energy to stay alive?”

He hates Yixing’s perfectly sound reasoning. The thought of Baekhyun hanging onto life by a thread, his fate in Jongdae’s hands – Yixing is right. He wouldn’t even question it.

But the realization that the logic behind the action is something Jongdae can understand doesn’t ease the frustrated hurt Jongdae’s still wallowing in.

Yixing sighs, hearing the petulance in Jongdae’s thoughts. “I’m not going to pressure you to change your mind, Jongdae. But you need to talk to Baekhyun. And Chanyeol. You can’t hide here forever.” 

“Says who?” Jongdae pouts, burrowing his face into Yixing’s shoulder. It’s on the tip of his tongue to say something dismissive like ask to be Yixing’s third instead, but he can’t get the words to form. He loves Baekhyun way too damn much. 

“Doctor’s orders,” Yixing playfully rebuts, but contrary to his words, he does bring the comforter over both of them. 

Jongdae hesitates, he doesn’t want to go to sleep.

“I’m right here,” Yixing comforts. “You need rest, Dae-ah. Physically, you’ve healed, but your core is still brittle, and all your energy needs to go to healing it.”

There isn’t much Jongdae can do against Yixing’s coaxing, and loathe as he is to admit it, he is still bone tired. Crying his heart out only added to the exhaustion, though Jongdae does feel lighter for it.

“Just a nap,” Yixing sweet-talks, “for me? I need to rest too, darling, and Myeonnie isn’t here. Don’t send me to my empty bed.”

And like that, Jongdae caves. Though he does insist on being the big spoon.

Jongdae listens to Yixing’s breathing slow down, carefully notes the rise and fall of Yixing’s chest under his arm. He thinks of Baekhyun, how he wants nothing more than to have his husband in his arms right now. And then, unbidden, his mind drifts to Chanyeol, how it felt to have that broad chest cradle him.

Resolutely, Jongdae ignores the thought. Later, he’ll deal with this later.

Sometime between figuring out how he is going to approach Baekhyun when he wakes up and how long they’ll have Yixing with them, Jongdae falls asleep. Though not for long before black eyes plague him all over again.

~✧*💎* ✧*⚡*✧*🔥*✧~

It’s been two days since he woke up, and he hasn’t seen Baekhyun since he practically chased his husband out of the room.

The nightmares are only getting worse. Now Jongdae can barely hope for a nap without waking up in a terror filled burst.

Yixing’s been a god-send, staying with Jongdae and grounding him. Sehun and Jongin, Changmin and Yunho, even Boa for a brief moment, have all managed to visit him. But no Baekhyun or Chanyeol.

Yet, Jongdae wakes up after periods of rest feeling like his core is more stable.

They’re sneaking in while Jongdae is asleep to share their energy, and that feels like a punch to the gut. Has his and Baekhyun’s relationship deteriorated so bad that they can’t even stand to see each other?

By day three, a week after the attack, Jongdae finally decides to hunt them down himself. At the very least, to apologize. Yixing has been a supportive ear the entire time Jongdae’s insecurities get the worst of him, but he’s constantly reminding Jongdae that nothing will change if he doesn’t first.

“Try,” Yixing says simply, so simply, Jongdae wonders if it really is that easy. “Open your heart a bit at a time, Jongdae. Be his friend first. I know you think Baekhyun is ready to sign a second marriage certificate with Chanyeol, but that isn’t true. He and Chanyeol bonded to save _you_. Remember that, darling.”

Jongdae looks away because it still burns that Yixing can look at this so one-dimensionally. But laying in bed and waiting for things to fix themselves has never been Jongdae’s style.

“I miss him,” Jongdae confesses, head tilted against the glass of the window overlooking the beautiful night sky of Seoul.

Yixing hums, almost dismissive. “Then go see him.”

That, at least, _is _that simple.

So Jongdae goes.

The thing is, Jongdae’s not technically allowed to be discharged. Physically, he is healed, but his body is still Drained and recovering from absorbing the dark energy. Stamina comes and goes, but Jongdae’s finally reached the part where he is bouncing with contained energy and might go insane if he has to stay cooped up in the infirmary any longer.

HQ is huge. Jongdae’s private recovery room is set up is close to the infirmary, in a hall made up of special rooms designed for long term care patients of the SSDF. It’s on the far right side of the campus comprised of satellite buildings that made up the Seoul Supernatural Defense Force.

Finding Baekhyun theoretically won’t be an easy feat, but that’s only for people that don’t know him.

In depression and anxiety, Baekhyun broods. Locks himself up in his room with his computer to play online games or lives at the gym, taking his frustrations out on the training machines.

Jongdae checks the gym first. It’s reaching midnight but there are still trainees diligently practicing there. He waves off their nervous, rigid, greetings with a gentle smile. Baekhyun isn’t here, Jongdae instantly knows.

He heads back out. One other place to check.

Taking a deep breath, Jongdae opens the door to _their_ dormitory room. The one Baekhyun and Jongdae shared together over a decade ago when they were just trainees, freshly bonded. It’s the only other place Baekhyun could be in SSDF’s HQ. If he isn’t there, then he is at home, and Jongdae doesn’t want to think about what it would mean if Baekhyun is in their home with Chanyeol.

Looks like there was no cause for worry because as soon as Jongdae slams the door open, Chanyeol jumps up, staring at Jongdae with bright, nervous eyes.

There is no Baekhyun in sight.

Well then.

“J-Jongdae,” Chanyeol stutters, hovering awkwardly, making a move to go to Jongdae but visibly holding himself back. “Are you – should you be walking yet?”

Jongdae wasn’t expecting Chanyeol. Isn’t prepared to deal with him at all. So, he responds naturally, so caught off guard he deflects to humour.

“No one’s fucked me up in the past three days, so I am walking just fine,” Jongdae says dryly, almost biting his tongue when the words slip out of his mouth.

Chanyeol’s eyes widen, mouth dropping open. Despite the comically taken off guard look, Jongdae re-evaluates all over again just how gorgeous Chanyeol is. In a brightly lit room, the moon and the stars a beautiful background, his eyes glow like gems, framed by his artful black hair that Jongdae just knows naturally falls into place without a comb. He’s tall – Jongdae had been too busy concentrating on Baekhyun in the fight to realize just how tall and broad Chanyeol really is. Physically, he’s probably the most beautiful man Jongdae has ever seen and that irks him.

“I,” Chanyeol swallows, almost floundering. It ruins his perfect image and Jongdae is grateful for it. It’s almost endearing how he looks completely flabbergasted and it makes Jongdae’s lips twitch into a smile.

“That wasn’t an invitation, just to be clear,” Jongdae light-heartedly warns.

That makes Chanyeol school his expression into neutrality. “Of course.”

Now it’s Jongdae’s turn to feel awkward. “Where’s Baekhyun?”

Chanyeol twitches, so subtly, Jongdae almost doesn’t notice.

“Your home,” Chanyeol answers after a moment. “I told him to head back.”

Jongdae’s brows draw up in confusion. Sure, Jongdae half expected Baekhyun to be home, but he was so sure Chanyeol would be there with him.

Chanyeol must read the expression on his face because he gives him a half-hearted smile. “Baekhyun wasn’t sleeping. Um, nightmares. I know this because we shared the room, not the bed,” Chanyeol hurriedly explains, pointing to the two beds pushed against the opposing walls.

Funny, because when Jongdae and Baekhyun sleep here, the beds were always pushed together. This room is reserved specifically for Baekhyun and Jongdae, a place to crash after a hard mission when they’re too tired to make it back to their apartment. It’s practically their second home, but Jongdae cautiously evaluates that he doesn’t feel bothered at the idea that Chanyeol slept here.

“Oh,” Jongdae says, for lack of anything else to say. He wasn’t expecting that answer.

Chanyeol rubs his arm, a weird sight on a man so muscular and tall, trying to make himself look smaller. “Yeah, um, I tried to get him to sleep but he’s pretty stubborn,” Chanyeol huffs and that reluctantly gets a smile from Jongdae. “Said he couldn’t sleep without you. I told him a hundred, thousand, times to just go back to you, but he said he couldn’t. Not until you came looking for him.”

Typical, Baekhyun.

“Okay,” Jongdae sighs, running a hand through his hair. Already, he can feel exhaustion tugging at him. The dorms and the infirmary are fairly far apart and the walk over was good for stretching his overtaxed body, but it’s also the most energy he’s exerted in over a week and his body is reminding him he isn’t anywhere near peak condition yet.

He has a decision to make. Turn back now or walk in. He knows where Baekhyun is and that’s all he really needed.

But Chanyeol must see the way Jongdae takes a step back, because he looks so devastated, carefully trying to keep that face of neutrality that is so off putting on his expressive face.

Yixing’s words echo through Jongdae’s mind. _Try_.

Jongdae takes a step inside.

Instantly Chanyeol perks up, all his attention on Jongdae. He’s clearly not trying to be obvious about it, but it _is_ so obvious Jongdae can’t help but compare him to a puppy, a comparison he never thought he would be making about a _vampire_. 

“You’ve both been sneaking into my room,” Jongdae accuses softly, walking to the bed closest to the window, the bed that’s always been his. Surprise lights through him the closer he gets. It’s clearly been slept in but nothing like the crazy mess of sheets Baekhyun always leaves behind. That means –

“I was using your bed, sorry,” Chanyeol says, stepping forward again as if he is going to actually make the already made bed. He stops himself in time, taking two steps back, breathing heavily.

Jongdae raises an inquiring eyebrow but Chanyeol gives him a tight smile, not saying anything further.

“Nothing else to say, Cullen?” Jongdae teases, drawing him back to his original statement. There is something about Chanyeol, the easy way he folds right now, in contrast to the man that was caging him underneath himself days ago. It piques Jongdae’s curiosity.

Chanyeol’s face scrunches. “You needed the energy,” Chanyeol defends. “Baekhyun was going to get himself Drained with the amount he keeps putting in you, so I always tagged along. I promise I haven’t touched him since - ” Chanyeol cuts himself off.

Instantly, Jongdae thinks back to the conversation they had upon waking. Awkwardness fills the room, and Jongdae hates it.

His skin already feels tight with the anxiety of everything else, this at least, Jongdae has control over.

“Sorry,” Jongdae says, head bowed a bit as he nervously fiddles his hands together. “I didn’t mean it like—”

“Yes, you did.”

Jongdae’s head snaps up at the surety of Chanyeol’s voice, so different to the submission beforehand.

“But I don’t blame you,” Chanyeol gives that same half-smile, and Jongdae finally notices the way the tip of a fang peaks over Chanyeol’s lips when he does that. “Because you were right. I was the stranger that fucked your husband while you were sleeping right there.”

Jongdae’s stomach sinks, skin feeling itchy and wrong with how candidly Chanyeol says those words, factually and dismissively at the same time, agreeing with Jongdae so easily on a topic that shouldn’t be that one dimensional. A topic, Jongdae had been subconsciously been winding up and prepared to fight over. Chanyeol’s easy acquiescence is off putting, to say the least.

And it’s when Jongdae’s immediately thinks _it’s not that simple_, that he internally groans. Yixing’s words have been getting to him if he’s ready to actually defend Chanyeol, or at least, the situation.

“That’s not - ” Jongdae tries to protest.

Chanyeol interrupts him. “It’s fine, Jongdae. You weren’t wrong when you said that.”

“Yes, I was,” Jongdae jumps in, his own bullheaded stubbornness peaking through. He tilts his chin up, pouting at Chanyeol and daring him to defy him. “I was wrong.”

Chanyeol doesn’t look convinced. “You weren’t. It’s not a big deal, Jongdae.”

Jongdae takes a step forward in frustration, wanting to smack Chanyeol across the chest as he always does with Baekhyun when he needs to tap someone to shake them into reality.

“Chanyeol,” Jongdae almost growls. “We’ve had only two conversations and neither of them have turned out that great. Let’s not fucking fight right now.”

This is where Baekhyun would pout, or tense, or walk away. Break into song, tell a joke, kiss Jongdae to distract him. Anything to avoid escalating the situation.

Chanyeol’s eyes spark with his own irritation and he steps forward. It’s almost enough to startle Jongdae into stepping back.

“We don’t have to fight, Jongdae. There isn’t anything to fight about.”

“And yet,” Jongdae sneers, head tilting up to maintain eye contact as Chanyeol gets into his space, “here we are, fighting.”

“Is that what we’re doing?” Chanyeol teases, voice amused. This close, Jongdae can see the unnatural parlour of Chanyeol’s skin.

“Is it not?” Jongdae murmurs, unfairly distracted by the way Chanyeol’s chiselled chest is defined by the simple black t-shirt, SSDF fatigues, he’s wearing. They’re fighting, they are, so why is Jongdae’s eyes drawing down to the sharp points of Chanyeol’s collarbone?

“Well, you’re not dying and you’re not kicking me out of the room, so I think that’s a win for me.” Chanyeol’s laughter snaps Jongdae out of his reverie. He snaps his eyes back up to Chanyeol, refusing to blush when he realizes Chanyeol totally saw how Jongdae was checking him out.

Jongdae snorts at Chanyeol’s cheekiness. “Are your expectations really that low?”

Chanyeol shrugs. “I wouldn’t call them low. I have one of the cutest guys I have ever seen in my life, letting me into his space. Still think I am winning.”

Stupidly, _that_ gets his cheeks to heat up with a blush.

“Fuck, you’re almost as good at this as Baekhyun,” Jongdae mumbles to himself, breaking eye contact for a second to look down and away. He doesn’t realize how it has his neck bared until Chanyeol makes a soft, almost unnoticeable sound. Jongdae wouldn’t have heard it if he wasn’t as highly trained as he is in body language and observation. He looks back up.

He freezes when he sees the intense look in Chanyeol’s eyes. For a moment, Chanyeol’s pink eyes seem to be almost red –

And something clicks.

“How long has it been since you fed?” Jongdae asks urgently.

Until this very moment, Jongdae hasn’t really absorbed the reality that their third is a vampire, a supernatural being. Jongdae’s never even remotely thought of that possibility in the few times he did think about profiling their third. But here and now, face to face with Chanyeol’s clear thirst, training takes over first. Jongdae’s too aware of what a danger a thirsty vampire is.

And yet, despite those facts, the cool-headed analysis of figuring out how close to the edge Chanyeol is, the cold-hearted observation of Chanyeol’s weak points to incapacitate him – Jongdae almost catches himself off guard with the level of his concern. Because he definitely sounds concerned.

Chanyeol seems to understand that because he looks at Jongdae, floored.

Almost embarrassed, Chanyeol takes a step backwards. “That obvious?”

“I didn’t realize you weren’t breathing until just now,” Jongdae explains slowly, still trying to reason what’s going on in his mind.

Chanyeol’s chest expands, almost as if he’s remembering to take in a breath. “Fuck,” he says.

“You’re really bad at answering questions,” Jongdae points out, lightly, taking his own step back. He doesn’t miss the way Chanyeol stares at him, a predator tracking their prey. 

Jongdae should be freaked out. He should be alarmed at being in a room with a clearly thirsty vampire.

Except he can still hear the way Chanyeol said, “I’ll protect you,” can still feel the warmth of Chanyeol’s hand on his back.

Chanyeol bites his lips and there is no way not to stare, this time. Chanyeol’s fangs are larger than Jongdae thought they would be, pearly white and looking razor sharp.

“I won’t hurt you,” Chanyeol says cautiously. It takes Jongdae a moment to realize Chanyeol sounds pained, resigned.

“I know you won’t.”

And, to Jongdae’s internal surprise, he really does believe this. Chanyeol has done nothing but help Jongdae in his time of need, and even now seems to be pulling himself away rather than invite himself in. Jongdae respects this, finds himself already feeling one layer of ice, of the hundreds on his heart, start to melt. 

“Jongdae,” Chanyeol breathes, eyes filling with emotions so deep Jongdae needs to take a breath of his own. Fuck, he wishes Baekhyun were here, but at the same time, he knows how much they need to do this.

“I asked you a question, Chanyeol. When was the last time you fed?” Jongdae repeats.

Chanyeol hesitates, staring at Jongdae just a moment too long. He seems to realize lying won’t work on Jongdae’s perceptiveness.

“Almost two weeks ago, before that crazy bitch Summoned me and I saw Baekhyun for the first time,” Chanyeol admits.

Jongdae draws in a sharp breath.

Vampires are fairly well known to the SSDF and general human population, a common breed of the cryptids that can remain on Earth for extended periods of time so long as the correct runes are drawn to tether them to Earth’s energy.

Jongdae isn’t the biggest fan of them, has his reservations as he would against any predator species, but he’s never really known a vampire.

But he’s studied them extensively. Knows how durable, fast, and strong they are. How natural born vampires stop aging if they pierce their heart, once. How turned vampires are in a newborn haze of bloodlust for at least six months. How they need to feed at least once a day, can stretch three days before they lose control of themselves. How they can’t stand the sunlight –

Wait.

“You were in the sun,” Jongdae says, almost dumbly, mind racing.

Vampires can absorb the sun’s rays, in small doses, as they get older. They even thrive off it in certain conditions, like with the full moon. Vampires that live centuries can even stay out during daylight if they cover up their skin.

But Chanyeol’s too young. 28, he said?

Chanyeol gives him a half smile, already understanding where Jongdae’s mind is going.

“I’m a half vampire,” Chanyeol explains. 

Jongdae looks at Chanyeol, mouth parted. “Half? I didn’t think vampires mated outside of their own species. I didn’t think they could propagate with humans,” Jongdae says, mostly to himself. 

Hybrids of any Underworld species were incredibly rare. But they do exist. Jongdae’s even met one, briefly. Kyungsoo—a friend of Junmyeon’s—a half siren, half Earth fae. There were some species that were compatible with human DNA and there were laws in place to protect hybrid human children. If this was the case, Jongdae and Baekhyun surely would have met Chanyeol sooner. Human hybrids were required to come to SDF training no matter what - 

“Not human,” Chanyeol clarifies, voice going quiet. Jongdae looks up, instinctively sensing the levity of the situation. 

Chanyeol hesitates, mouth opening but no words coming out. 

“You don’t have to explain if you’re not ready,” Jongdae says softly. “We have time.”

Chanyeol breathes out heavily. “When you say that - when you give me hope, Jongdae-ya, how could I not want to tell you everything about me?”

Jongdae feels something bubble in the pit of his gut. Awkwardness, flattery and a mix of growing affection. Chanyeol was easy in the same way Baekhyun was, wearing his heart on his sleeve. 

“We’ll get there,” Jongdae promises. “With Baekhyun too.”

Chanyeol doesn’t say anything for a moment of time, eyes on the floor. Jongdae’s unprepared when Chanyeol lifts his eyes and stares at Jongdae determinedly. 

“Half phoenix.”

Jongdae’s ears ring for a moment. 

Did he hear wrong? Did Chanyeol just say _phoenix_? 

Jongdae suddenly remembers the conversation they had with Junmyeon when they Summoned him almost a week ago. How he had questioned if Chanyeol was really a vampire. It figures their know-it-all leader would have figured out some piece of the puzzle, just from Baekhyun’s description. 

Never in Jongdae’s wildest dreams did he think he would ever meet a bloodline of a Sacred Beast - a Divine Creature of Magic. Humans and Underworlders alike worshipped the avatars of magic - the dragons, the krakens, the phoenixes. There was an understanding that they were the true children of magic, that most affinities were born of them. Over five thousand years ago there were even records of seeing these Sacred Beasts amongst the beginnings of human civilization. There were rumors that over time the Sacred Beasts had become shifters, migrating into the world of intelligent bipeds. 

The ancient shifters were all thought to be extinct – there isn’t –

“Not pureblood,” Chanyeol rushes to explain, almost as if he’s embarrassed that Jongdae will get too worked up. As if that in itself wasn’t a mind blowing fact. “Diluted, quite a few generations down. I don’t think my mom knew she had phoenix blood, I doubt my grand-dad knew either. I only found out because Yifan - ” Chanyeol cuts himself off, swallowing hard.

Terror claws its way down Jongdae’s spine for a hard second.

“You’re okay,” Chanyeol says immediately, stepping in close. Jongdae realizes he must have heard the sound of his increased heartbeat. “I won’t let anyone hurt you again,” Chanyeol swears, red eyes darkening. His hand hovers in the air between them, so close, Jongdae can almost feel the weight of it.

But neither of them bridges the gap.

“When Y-Yifan…?” Jongdae prompts after a moment.

Chanyeol takes a shuddering breath. He lets his hand drop.

“Yifan is a dragonborn descendant. He said he recognized the aura. I think it’s the only reason he ever looked twice at a street rat like me,” Chanyeol says sardonically, shrugging one shoulder.

There is a lot to unpack in that sentence. Jongdae swallows, choosing to ignore it all. It’s not that he can’t deal with it, but it feels wrong to hear about Chanyeol without Baekhyun by his side.

That triggers a thought from Jongdae.

“Did you tell Baekhyun this?” Jongdae asks, already preparing for the ‘yes’ Chanyeol is sure to answer.

“No,” Chanyeol laughs. “We have barely talked since you woke up.”

“What?” Jongdae says, shocked. His brain switches gear. This. This is much easier to deal with than realizing he has a soulmate tethered to the purest form of magic bound to him. 

There is no way Baekhyun wouldn’t be all over Chanyeol, the soulmate he’s been waiting for.

“You’re a lot easier to read than I originally thought, Jongdae,” Chanyeol laughs. “I don’t know what fantasy you built up in your head, but Baekhyun would barely even look at me if it didn’t involve fucking to build energy.” Chanyeol swallows, a useless gesture Jongdae thinks but he supposes there are some ingrained human traits even vampires can’t break. “When we left you and came here, he wouldn’t sit still. He was exhausted, recovering from his own injuries, but he’d be out there planning with your Commander, or talking to the investigation team, or reassuring the trainees and your friends. The only times he’d speak to me was to ask me to help sneak him into your room and feed you energy.”

It takes a moment to digest all that. “That isn’t possible. Baekhyun’s been waiting for you for forever. He wouldn’t just brush you off like that.”

Chanyeol’s smile is self-deprecating. “I don’t think he even realized he was doing it. He was in survival mode, only doing enough to keep you alive. He wasn’t even looking out for himself. When we fucked,” Chanyeol looks at Jongdae hesitantly but Jongdae nods for him to continue, “we both knew it was just so we could create energy for you. Leaving you in that room alone meant Baekhyun trying to distract himself. Eventually, I asked Yixing and he said Baekhyun needed to go home. When I brought it up he looked like he was going to stab me.” Jongdae thinks his jaw might come unhinged with the rate it keeps dropping. “He wasn’t going to go home, said he couldn’t without you, but you could see he was on his last breath. I got your friends Sehun and Jongin in here to force him back.”

“Thank you,” Jongdae says sincerely, breathing a sigh of relief. Stupid, Baekhyun.

“Nothing to thank me for,” Chanyeol says. “But you know, speaking of rest, you should - ”

“It’s going to be a pain, isn’t it?” Jongdae says slowly, cutting Chanyeol off.

Chanyeol stares at him, uncomprehending. “What is? Are you feeling hurt?”

Jongdae laughs. “Only my head. Trying to get a straight answer from you is like playing word games with Junmyeon hyung. You’re really good at changing topics.”

Chanyeol’s fists tighten by his side, and Jongdae gives him a knowing look. “Thank you for telling me where Baekhyun is. I’m glad he’s home, safe and hopefully sleeping. But I know Baekhyun. He’ll be back here within three hours.”

Chanyeol chuckles. “I was going to give him two. He needs to take care of you. I am pretty sure he’s already mentally checked out otherwise he never would have left in the first place. As soon as he closes his eyes and gives his brain a break, he’ll realize what it means leaving you here and he’ll be back to take care of you.”

Jongdae gives Chanyeol a sharp look. “So, he’s been taking care of me, and you’ve been taking care of him. Who has been taking care of you?”

Chanyeol’s expression shutters off so fast, Jongdae almost thinks he’s insulted Chanyeol.

“I can take care of myself just fine,” Chanyeol says heatedly.

“You haven’t fed in two weeks. You’re a half vampire that’s diluted on both sides, so I guess that’s how you’re living in this starved state. You seem to know Sehun, Jongin and Yixing. Baekhyun wasn’t the only one not staying put and recovering, was he?” Jongdae challenges.

Chanyeol’s brows furrow and for the first time, he looks irked. It makes Jongdae’s stomach tug, a bit enamoured with how cute Chanyeol looks annoyed.

“I have more stamina than both of you. I’ve already recovered from the fight. Without Baekhyun and you here, there isn’t much else to do but explore. I ran into Jongin and Sehunnie by chance and they both kind of adopted me.” Chanyeol looks away. “Said they were happy to meet your third.”

Jongdae refuses to let his stomach curl in guilt. This is still a conversation they need to have, but Jongdae isn’t going to have it without Baekhyun here. And he refuses to get distracted any longer.

“And while you were out making friends, you didn’t think to ask anyone to direct you to a blood bank?”

Chanyeol’s confusion is so apparent, Jongdae finds himself clarifying further, caught off guard by Chanyeol’s surprise. “You know, to get you a blood bag? To tide you over?”

“You let vampires feed on humans?” Chanyeol asks, shocked.

Jongdae stumbles mentally. “Yeah?” he answers hesitantly watching the way Chanyeol’s eyes widen. “We have human donors if you prefer to sink through flesh but if you just needed a quick meal we have a few blood banks in Seoul.”

Chanyeol looks at Jongdae wide-eyed. “I don’t understand. I thought you killed vampires that fed on humans?”

There is something in the way that he says that has Jongdae analyzing it.

“No,” Jongdae says slowly. “We only put down vampires that fall to their blood lust but that rarely ever happens. They live pretty peacefully with humans and have a sub-culture set up with organization, rules and laws on vampire-human interaction, as sanctioned by the World Supernatural Defense Force.”

“You don’t just kill all supernaturals?” Chanyeol asks winded.

“What?” Jongdae says, shocked. “No! We only kill Beasts and sometimes Underworlders that are associated with LORE, if they’re too dangerous to be contained.”

Jongdae’s completely caught off guard with the way Chanyeol goes unnaturally still for a second before he backs away, tripping over himself until he lands on the bed. He hands his head between his hands for a second, trembling.

“So you don’t hate me because I’m from the Underworld?” Chanyeol asks, voice so soft, so brittle, Jongdae feels his heart straining to meet the hurt that coats Chanyeol’s words.

“No!” Jongdae acts without thinking, walking over to Chanyeol and dropping down to his knees in front of Chanyeol, hesitantly taking Chanyeol’s trembling hands.

Bright, warm, energy sparks between them, sinking through Jongdae’s skin and straight into his core, uncalled for. Jongdae’s breath catches, a familiar jolt of arousal going through him.

All at once, he’s reminded he and Chanyeol haven’t completed their bond. Jongdae’s never heard of a bond delayed this long.

But the sensation, heady as it is, is diluted. Not urgent. Jongdae can afford to push that away for a bit longer.

“We’re not prejudiced against Underworlders, Chanyeol,” Jongdae says firmly, catching Chanyeol’s wide eyed gaze, focused on the way Jongdae’s small hands clasp Chanyeol’s large ones. “My issues with you have nothing to do with that.”

Chanyeol’s eyes snap to Jongdae’s. “Right, you just hate me because I fucked your -”

“Chanyeol!” Jongdae cuts him off, nearly snarling. “We’re not doing this again. When Baekhyun gets here, we’ll talk about it. I’m,” Jongdae breathes, trying to calm himself down, “sorry, for keeping you away. You didn’t deserve that, not after all you’ve done is protect me and save my life. You’ll understand a bit more when you get to know Baekhyun, but he’s addictive. You want to covet him for yourself. That’s all it is, Chanyeol. Me being greedy and not wanting to share Baekhyun with you.”

Chanyeol is silent for a pause before, hesitantly, his thumb traces over the back of Jongdae’s hand that is still holding Chanyeol’s.

“You know it’s not just Baekhyun I want, right?” Chanyeol says, all traces of hesitation gone. He looks at Jongdae intensely.

Jongdae bites his lip, feeling the tension between them almost sizzle with how charged the energy has become.

“We’ll talk about that too,” Jongdae deflects, because he can’t do this right now. “For now, I’ll call someone to get you something to eat.”

“Room service?” Chanyeol jokes, helping Jongdae break the tension. Jongdae’s shoulders relax and he gently withdraws his hands. He doesn’t miss how Chanyeol’s hands minutely tense around his for a second before they let go, allowing Jongdae to retreat back.

“Only the best for the heroes of Seoul,” Jongdae laughs, pulling out his brand new phone Yixing dropped off this morning. “You got a type?”

“Beautiful smile, lovely voice, small waist, thick thighs, kitten lips, and a heart of gold,” Chanyeol answers, eyes half lidded.

Oh.

There’s that blush again.

“Idiot,” Jongdae says reflexively, hitting Chanyeol’s chest with his fist half-heartedly.

Chanyeol catches his hand, eyes heated. “B positive for my meal, O positive for dessert.”

Jongdae swallows. “You’re dangerous.”

Instantly, Chanyeol lets him go, eyes turning sheepish, countenance back to an eager puppy. “Sorry. Were you scared?”

Jongdae shakes his head. He honestly wasn’t even though there was no mistaking Chanyeol was talking about making a meal out of Jongdae and Baekhyun.

“Not about that,” Jongdae answers truthfully. “You’re dangerous because you’re making me drop my guard.”

The smile Chanyeol gives him is so bright you would think Jongdae just pulled the moon from the sky to present to him.

Taking a shaky breath, Jongdae thrusts the phone between them.

“Come on, let’s get you something to eat.”

It’s going to take time for the food to get there, Jongdae notes. He’s not looking forward to the awkward silence between the two of them while they wait.

“Let me give you some energy?” Chanyeol pleads once Jongdae sends off an order for two blood bags and a large pizza. Turns out Chanyeol can eat food but it doesn’t sustain him as well as blood can.

“I’m fine,” Jongdae tries to protest weakly, shyly retreating to the side of the bed from where they’re both perched.

“For now,” Chanyeol counters. “It’s been almost six hours since Baekhyun and I gave you any energy. Please?”

And what is Jongdae to say to that?

Shakily he nods.

Unprompted, he unbuttons the large pajama shirt he’s had on while in the infirmary.

“Oh,” Chanyeol says, mouth slack in surprise, a direct difference to the way his eyes hungrily rove over Jongdae’s chest. “I – you – I don’t have to touch the core mark?”

Technically, energy can be transferred at any point they are touching each other, but having your soulmate transfer energy while touching a core mark is a more reliable, better way, to transfer energy in large doses.

Jongdae shrugs, shyly letting his palm rest over his stomach. He’s not that body shy, can’t be after communal showers for most of his youth spent in SSDF, not with the way Yixing and Junmyeon and Baekhyun would casually lift his shirt to play with his core marks.

He turns his back to Chanyeol and lets Chanyeol get a clear view of his mark on his back, nestled between his shoulder blades.

“Don’t want you lifting up my shirt like a perv when I go to sleep,” Jongdae jokes, hands twisting together.

Chanyeol guffaws, the bed dipping as his weight is shifts, coming closer.

Jongdae releases a breathy sigh when Chanyeol’s hand lands on his skin, immediately drawing goosebumps. Jongdae bites his lip against a moan, already feeling his skin tingle in sensitivity, small sparks of energy flying between Chanyeol’s hand and his core mark. His nipples harden, and Jongdae self consciously draws his arms in front of him, crossing them as if he can hide.

The first burst of energy nearly has Jongdae moaning.

“Good?” Chanyeol asks, needlessly, voice deep. Jongdae doesn’t answer verbally, nods his head and focuses on the liquid warmth that seeps through his veins, through his skin and through his ki channels, soothing them on it’s journey to his core.

The edge of arousal slowly fades as exhaustion makes itself known.

Safe. Warm.

Jongdae’s eyes are already slipping closed.

“Sleep, Jongdae-ya. You're safe with me, I promise. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

He allows everything to slip away. The knowledge that their food is coming soon, that Yixing will probably visit him sometime tonight in his infirmary room, that he has Chanyeol touching him reverently, delicately. That Baekhyun isn’t here.

Jongdae sleeps.

~✧*💎* ✧*⚡*✧*🔥*✧~

Again, he wakes up with a start, mouth closing around a scream at the darkness.

Warm orange engulfs him and Jongdae greedily scrambles towards the light and heat.

Chanyeol sits perched on the edge of the bed, a ball of fire in his hand.

Jongdae stills, breathing heavily, muddled mind slowly remembering where he is.

In the dorms. It’s just him and Chanyeol. Somehow, Jongdae knows he wasn’t just down for a nap. He’s probably slept through an entire day, which only adds to the unsettling feeling in the pit of his gut.

“Nightmare?” Chanyeol whispers, voice hushed and cautious.

Shivering from the cold, and _not_ because of Chanyeol’s deep voice, Jongdae nods.

“It’s the middle of the day, you slept another ten hours,” Chanyeol offers, “Baekhyun is with Yixing hyung. I offered to watch over you. Do you think you can go back to sleep?”

Jongdae shudders at the image of Yifan’s dead body rising, a gaping hole in his chest, Baekhyun’s body limp in his large hands, playing in his mind’s eye. 

Breath hitching in distress, Jongdae huddles close to himself and violently shakes his head. He hugs himself, aching for Baekhyun’s possessive vice grip, Yixing’s comforting cradle. He needs to ground himself because half of him still feels like he’s trapped in an abyss.

“Can I touch you?” Chanyeol asks hesitantly. Jongdae almost doesn’t hear him from how loud his heart is beating in his ears.

Jongdae doesn’t think twice about it, fear too close to the forefront of his mind.

“Please,” Jongdae begs, softly.

Chanyeol immediately moves forward, graceful in how he wraps his arms around Jongdae, brings him in close for a hug.

Jongdae’s breath catches for an entirely different reason, taken off guard by the strength of Chanyeol’s grip, the breadth of his chest, the low whispers of reassurance in his ear.

Jongdae’s not paying too close attention, basking in the feeling of safety more than anything. So when Chanyeol says, “I’ll protect you, always,” so quietly, so fiercely, Jongdae almost doesn’t understand.

“But I hurt you,” Jongdae whispers, voice thick.

Chanyeol tenses but doesn’t break his hold. “It doesn’t matter. If you don’t accept me now, I’ll do everything in my power until you can. I’ve waited this long, I can wait a bit more. I won’t give up on you.”

Jongdae can’t take it. “Don’t want to think about it. Just hold me, please.”

Chanyeol releases a sigh, heavy with disappointment. It makes regret sting through Jongdae’s stomach, but he can’t think too hard on it, not when it still feels like his skin is crawling with ants, that ice has frozen over his lungs.

Jongdae moans softly in relief when Chanyeol’s body temperature spikes, going from a comforting warm to almost burning hot. He sinks into the heat, feeling it seep into his bones.

Jongdae’s practically laying on Chanyeol now, their torsos pressed together. Chanyeol seems to take the invitation to touch wholeheartedly, hand slipping under Jongdae’s sleep shirt to trace up his spine, large hand stopping only once it’s reached Chanyeol’s mirrored core mark.

“Like this,” Chanyeol whispers, voice deceptively tempered, breathing calm. “Sleep like this, Jongdae. I promise you, I’ll burn away any dark that comes near you.”

Jongdae believes him. How can he not, with the fierce conviction in Chanyeol’s voice?

And he’s so tired. He can’t rest properly, interrupted by the dark eyes and cold hands on his throat.

But surrounded by warmth, cradled against a body larger, sturdier, than his, Jongdae finds himself helplessly drifting.

“Don’t leave,” Jongdae whispers into Chanyeol’s shoulder, eyes already closing. He can’t bear the thought of waking up in the throes of another nightmare.

“Never,” Chanyeol replies, and Jongdae swears he feels the brush of lips over the top of his head. He can’t be bothered to check, already succumbing to sleep.

Instinctively, Jongdae trusts Chanyeol to keep his word.

~✧*💎* ✧*⚡*✧*🔥*✧~

Jongdae wakes up to low heated tones. He doesn’t really understand what he’s hearing until –

“Baekhyun, listen to me, it’s not what you think - ”

Jongdae shudders, unwilling to let the beautiful clutches of sleep fade away. He turns his head burying it into the warm pillow under him.

“Jongdae!”

Jongdae instinctively jerks at the call of his name. He goes from awake to alert almost instantly, eyes flying open to see what the danger is, hearing the upset in Baekhyun’s voice.

“What?” he rasps, voice dry. He looks around, expecting danger. His sleep heavy eyes land on Baekhyun, and instinctively his heart leaps at the sight of his husband, here. 

He doesn’t expect Chanyeol to engulf him in his arms, pulling him back down to his warm chest. He makes a soft sound, allowing Chanyeol to hold him. 

“It’s nothing,” Chanyeol says, voice soft and level, none of the urgency he heard in Baekhyun’s voice. It makes him relax a bit, but he doesn’t go lax in Chanyeol’s arms. “You should rest if you still can.”

“Chanyeol,” Baekhyun strains to say, causing Jongdae’s eyes to flicker to his husband, immediately noticing how utterly exhausted he looks, “let go of Jongdae.”

Jongdae’s brows furrow in confusion. He’s heard that tone on Baekhyun before, and his hazy mind tries to place it. He doesn’t until Chanyeol tightens his hold and Baekhyun’s eyes narrow.

Baekhyun is warning Chanyeol.

“What’s going on?” Jongdae asks after swallowing. God, he needs some water.

Baekhyun’s eyes snap to his, the dark circles under his eyes all the more prominent because his eyes are glowing a faint white.

What the fuck.

“There is blood. All over your bed. Did he bite you?”

For a moment, Jongdae’s mind blanks. He has literally no idea how to comprehend Baekhyun’s statement. He forces himself to blink and, like that, his brain comes back online. He breaks out of Chanyeol’s limp hold, propping himself on one arm and looks down.

There _is_ blood all over the bed.

“It’s not what you think,” Jongdae automatically says, wincing a bit at the cliché.

Baekhyun doesn’t look pacified. His hands are shaking from where they are clenched by his sides in fists.

His mind is still slow going but he understands immediately the conclusion Baekhyun must be arriving to.

Jongdae takes a deep breath, closing his eyes. When he releases that breath, he stares at Baekhyun, taking hold of Chanyeol’s limp hand.

Baekhyun’s eyes flit down, his scowl growing. It makes him clutch Chanyeol’s hand tighter, because he can feel their third desperately clutch back.

“Chanyeol hadn’t fed,” Jongdae explains. “We ordered him blood bags from the Blood Bank. I ordered extra for the coming days, but I guess he was really hungry.” He tries to inject some levity into his voice but Baekhyun’s scowl doesn’t break.

Jongdae sighs turning away from his husband for a moment. Chanyeol has his eyes closed, face pressed into the pillow beside Jongdae as if he wants to hide. Instantly Jongdae feels his heart clench in pain.

“He’s not accusing you of hurting me,” Jongdae says, to Chanyeol.

Chanyeol’s hand holds Jongdae’s so tightly, dwarfs Jongdae’s hand to the point where his fingers are pressed together inside Chanyeol’s palm, he feels he might break. But Jongdae weathers the pain, wanting to make sure Chanyeol understands.

“Except that’s pretty much exactly what he accused me of,” Chanyeol responds, voice flat. “Seems to be a pattern, when I am with the two of you.”

Jongdae feels a nasty sting go straight through his heart. Chanyeol sounds close to tears.

“Baekhyun saw something he didn’t understand,” Jongdae explains, keenly aware of how Chanyeol seems to try and burrow his way into Jongdae’s space without actually _touching_ him and how Baekhyun is looming there, the sounds of his bones creaking from how hard he is clenching his fists audible.

Chanyeol laughs, mirthlessly. He takes a deep breath, unnatural now that Jongdae’s realized Chanyeol hadn’t been breathing, pulling away and opening his eyes.

Jongdae’s breath catches in his throat. Chanyeol’s eyes glow vibrantly, a mix of rose pink and garnet, absolutely shining in the sunlight. The beauty of Chanyeol fades when Chanyeol’s lips twist into a sneer.

“Jongdae needed warmth,” Chanyeol says, tone monotone as he gathers himself, pushing himself to a sitting position and then up and off the bed. It’s then that Jongdae realizes Chanyeol’s been shirtless this entire time. Again, Jongdae stares, riveted at the expanse of muscles on Chanyeol’s chest, all outlined sharply by runes that glow a red-ish gold, mixed almost to look orange. Chanyeol takes a deep breath and the runes seem to dull down, fading from the warm fiery gold to an almost brick red. “I needed energy to supply it. I got carried away and when I finally went to sleep, some of the blood must of have spilt on the bed. Sorry.”

Jongdae’s eyes flicker to a quiet Baekhyun. It’s throwing Jongdae off how his husband only stares at Chanyeol, not appraising, just blank. It’s completely off putting because Jongdae can still vividly remember how excited Baekhyun had been that night a week ago - what felt like a lifetime ago. Baekhyun, calling Chanyeol ‘their cute vampire’ already planning a life together. And yet, here Baekhyun stands, as still as a statue. 

“Baek?” Jongdae asks hesitantly. He moves to get off the bed as well, hating how he is the only one in a vulnerable position.

As soon as he starts to move, he instantly feels dizzy. His body lists sideways as his vision doubles.

Baekhyun catches him. Not that there was any reason to, Jongdae would have fallen into the mattress, but this is nice too, Baekhyun’s arms around him, holding him tight.

“Are you okay?” Baekhyun asks worriedly, voice weirdly intense. 

Jongdae smiles softly. “Just got up too fast. I’m fine.”

“He needs energy,” Chanyeol says, back to them as he picks up his shirt from the floor putting it on. His expressive face is still carefully blank and Jongdae looks at him unsurely. He doesn’t know what is wrong, but he doesn’t like this side of Chanyeol. “It’s been almost six hours since I gave him any.”

Baekhyun’s brows furrow and Jongdae stares at Baekhyun, bemused. He has never seen Baekhyun like this, chewing frustratedly on his bottom lip as he if he can’t decide if he wants to fight Chanyeol or himself.

“Baekhyun, what’s going on? Why do you look like you want to beam Chanyeol into swiss cheese?” Jongdae asks nervously, hoping for some levity. 

“I don’t,” Baekhyun responds, too quickly. He won’t meet Jongdae’s eye but he is clutching onto Jongdae as if Jongdae is moment away from jumping out of his arms.

Jongdae raises and eyebrow, sharing a look with Chanyeol. They both can see the bullshit for what it is.

“Do you need space?” Chanyeol asks, huffing with something like agitation. He’s already eyeing the door.

But Jongdae’s not letting this chance slip away. Already, it’s starting to mirror their second encounter too closely.

“Don’t go!” Jongdae leaps to his feet, counting on his stumble. As expected, Chanyeol instantly there, inhuman speed propelling him right into Jongdae’s space and getting hold of him, arms supportive around Jongdae’s waist.

“Careful! Jongdae-ya, you still need more rest!” Chanyeol scolds, but his tone is worried, grip careful but firm, like he’s holding something delicate in his grasp.

Jongdae gives him a raised eyebrow. “I’ve slept enough. Thanks. I think we need to have an adult conversation.”

Chanyeol groans, face dropping into a pout. Jongdae can’t help his soft giggle when Chanyeol’s pink eyes gleam at him with wide-eyed earnestness. “Do we have to? I like our pattern of running away from serious discussions.”

“We have to,” Jongdae informs him, tone playful but words serious. One hand squeezes Chanyeol’s arm before he gently pulls himself away.

Only to be pulled into Baekhyun’s arms.

“You know, the last time I checked, you hated him, Dae-ah.”

Jongdae shudders, a cold brush of _something_ stroking down his spine at Baekhyun’s dark words.

He can’t turn around, Baekhyun’s hold on his waist too tight. He has a front row of Chanyeol instantly shutting down again. Awkwardness hangs in the air for a moment before Jongdae trudges through it.

“Baekhyun, what the fuck?” Jongdae says, turning his head to glare at his husband. “What’s up with you? Why are you attacking Chanyeol like this?”

Baekhyun gives him a despondent laugh. This close to Baekhyun, Jongdae can see all the bumps and pores on Baekhyun’s face, the unshaven stubble. He can see the roots of Baekhyun’s honey hair already growing in. His husband is completely unkempt, looks like he hasn’t slept in a week –

Which he probably hasn’t.

“Baekhyun,” Jongdae says softly, when Baekhyun doesn’t offer anything. “Are you okay? When was the last time you slept?”

Baekhyun ducks his head, burying it into Jongdae’s shoulder and hiding away from Jongdae completely. “The night before I met Chanyeol.”

Jongdae sucks in a sharp breath, looking at Chanyeol helplessly. But Chanyeol doesn’t seem to care, face ducked low and an angry furrow between his brows.

“Maybe we shouldn’t have met.”

Jongdae’s stomach plummets, hitting his intestines so hard he feels he like may be vibrating. He swallows, feeling hollow, staring at the way Chanyeol backs away.

“Chanyeol - ” Jongdae struggles to say, heart in his throat.

This time it’s Chanyeol who laughs, finally looking up to meet Jongdae’s eyes. They’re filled with unshed tears, even though Chanyeol has a large fake grin on his face.

“You don’t need me,” Chanyeol says softly, and Baekhyun’s breath hitches from where it remains buried. “You have each other, and I don’t think there is much room for me. I’ll stay until you’re healed enough to depend on just Baekhyun, and then I’ll leave.”

Jongdae watches, completely slack with horrified surprise as Chanyeol starts to walk towards the door, almost in slow motion.

Baekhyun doesn’t move, soft distressed sounds falling from his lips but he doesn’t _move_.

Jongdae surprises himself when his own body does.

He rips himself form Baekhyun’s hold, and almost runs right to Chanyeol. “Don’t!” Jongdae says loudly, too loudly.

Chanyeol stops only when Jongdae grabs his arm, holding on to him desperately. He throws a look back, imploringly, to Baekhyun.

Except his husband stands there, arms crossed around himself as he stares at the floor.

“What’s _wrong_ with you two?” Jongdae nearly yells, frustrated. “I don’t understand – you’re both _bonded_. It’s what both of you told me you have wanted for years – why are you acting like this?” Jongdae feels his agitation bubble in his gut. It’s better this way – anger, rather than tears.

Chanyeol answers first, gently tugging away from Jongdae. He gives him a stare that makes him feel two feet small. “I’ve wanted you both for as long as I can remember. It was one of the only things that kept me going in the slums, the thought of finding my forever mates,” Chanyeol says, deep voice cracking in a way that sends fissions of pain through Jongdae’s body. He swallows past the instinctive need to hug Chanyeol, to keep him together. “But you already have each other. You don’t need me. You don’t trust me. You don’t _want_ -“

“That’s not true!”

Jongdae almost jumps, whirling around to look at a tearful Baekhyun staring at Chanyeol defiantly. “I’ve wanted you – _both_ of you since I knew what it meant to carry two marks. I’ve been waiting and waiting, wondering when you were going to show up, to join our home that I built with Jongdae. But you didn’t come. We waited, and waited, and you didn’t come. Why?”

They both stare at Baekhyun who stumbles backwards, falling into his own bed, huddling into himself.

Jongdae doesn’t think, instinctively rushes to his husband.

Except when he gets near, Baekhyun flinches away from him.

“And you,” Baekhyun laughs on a tearful sob, “when were you going to tell me you never wanted our third? Just let yourself die in my arms holding on to secrets, Jongdae?”

“Baekhyun,” Jongdae says in lieu of anything else, flinching back with hurt. “It’s not – that wasn’t - ”

“Don’t lie,” Baekhyun hisses, voice raising in a way it hardly ever does with Jongdae. It has him flinching, going backwards.

Chanyeol stands behind him, but doesn’t touch him.

Jongdae’s never felt so alone.

“You _died_, Jongdae,” Baekhyun stresses, tears already streaming down his face. “You don’t seem to understand that. Your bond was gone. I watched you die and now every time I close my eyes, I see it happen again, and again, and again. And then when you wake up, when you were in my arms, you pushed me away for choosing to do what I needed to save you. I was okay with that, you know? As long as you were alive, you could hate me forever and I would be _fine_. Except I come back to our room and you’re laying in his arms. I guess I understand how you felt, love. He’s our third but I wanted to burn him for touching you.”

No.

This isn’t making sense.

Chanyeol is a palpable energy behind him. Jongdae feels like a faulty shield, Baekhyun’s words darting around Jongdae to hurt Chanyeol directly and it feels absolutely sickening.

This isn’t Baekhyun. This isn’t Baekhyun at all. Jongdae nearly tore out Baekhyun’s heart that day but his husband kept coming back to make sure Jongdae was alive, kept in contact with Chanyeol, they both told him as much – so what is this?

Jongdae isn’t the type to lay back and take this. He marches forward. Baekhyun tries to get on his feet to match him, but Jongdae gets there first, pushing him back to the bed. Baekhyun snarls, hands coming up and pressing hard on Jongdae’s chest to get him off.

Jongdae easily captures Baekhyun’s wrists and pins them by Baekhyun’s head.

“Don’t move,” Jongdae snarls at both Baekhyun and Chanyeol. He breaks eye contact with Baekhyun to catch Chanyeol’s frustrated eyes. They’re glistening with tears but won’t fall.

“Please,” he adds, pleading to Chanyeol with a soft voice. Chanyeol takes in a deep breath but nods sharply, staying where he is.

“Already have him wrapped around your finger?” Baekhyun mocks. “That was fast, Jongdae. Guess you didn’t need me in the picture, huh? What were your last words, love? ‘Take care of him’? Should I say them back to you, and take my leave?”

The pure vitriol in Baekhyun’s voice almost makes Jongdae loosen his hold in shock. But the way Baekhyun’s pupils shake, the way he is practically sobbing, it makes Jongdae stay firm.

“Baekhyun,” Jongdae says with a calm he doesn’t feel, “shut up.”

Baekhyun laughs. “I thought you loved the way I talked, baby? Don’t care for what I have to say? Your hero fucked my voice out of your head? Did being dead leave some damage to your memory?”

Jongdae nearly reels back, disgust making him loosen his hold.

Baekhyun takes the chance to flip them, pinning Jongdae to the bed. Jongdae gasps, room spinning until Baekhyun’s face looms over his, a painful smile on his face.

“That was mean, wasn’t it, baby? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it,” Baekhyun says, faux sweet. “It’s my memory that’s all faulty. Say, Jongdae, are you here right now? Am I trapped inside a dream?”

Fear claws its way through Jongdae’s ribcage, in casing his lungs in a vice grip, ice and blood crawling down his throat as he stares at the way Baekhyun’s face falls.

Jongdae doesn’t understand what’s going on but he doesn’t need to understand anything beyond the fact that Baekhyun is deeply hurting.

“I’m here, Baek,” Jongdae says softly, barely above a whisper, too caught off guard to raise his voice any higher, emotion clogging his throat. “We’re both here, Chanyeol and me.”

Baekhyun crumbles. “Okay. I’m glad Chanyeol is here. He can protect you. I couldn’t. You died, Jongdae. You died because I wasn’t strong enough to protect you.”

Jongdae doesn’t think dying another death would ever compare to the piercing stab of hurt that strikes through him.

It’s not even him that moves. Chanyeol is behind Baekhyun before Baekhyun can release his first shuddering wail, bringing him back and holding him tight in his arms. Baekhyun scrambles, nails raking down Chanyeol’s forearms as he tries to reach for Jongdae.

Jongdae isn’t a breath behind, already kneeling up to hold Baekhyun. He grabs Baekhyun’s arms, lacing their fingers together, ignoring the way Baekhyun clutches at Jongdae desperately, the pressure fiercely enough to make Jongdae’s bones grind.

“It wasn’t your fault,” Chanyeol says before Jongdae can. “Yifan is – was strong, stronger because of the energy he took from Dead World. There wasn’t anything else we could have done.”

Baekhyun tenses so hard that Jongdae thinks he may try and fight Chanyeol.

But like a puppet whose strings have been cut, Baekhyun crumples. He lets out a heartbreaking wail, tears coming down harder as he tries to gather Jongdae into his arms while burying back into Chanyeol.

Jongdae instantly surges forward, holding Baekhyun tight, guilt nearly tearing him from the inside out. He did this. He turned Baekhyun to this.

“I’m sorry,” Jongdae whispers, his battle with his tears lost. He cries as Baekhyun does, holding his husband as he falls apart between them. “I’m so fucking sorry, Baek,” he whispers, pressing his lips into Baekhyun’s cheeks, feeling the way they suck in as he draws in desperate breathes. “I’m sorry, Chanyeol,” Jongdae adds, lifting his eyes to meet Chanyeol’s sad ones.

“C-Chanyeol,” Baekhyun hiccups, finally turning his head to look at Chanyeol. “I’m sorry, sorry, I’m so sorry,” his voice breaks and he shudders so hard that Jongdae feels his stomach drop in concern.

Chanyeol’s hold doesn’t loosen but he does dip his head into Baekhyun’s neck. “Shh, its okay. You’re okay and Jongdae is okay.”

One of Baekhyun’s hands untangle from Jongdae’s shirt, reaching instead for Chanyeol’s hand on his waist. With a shuddering breath he brings Chanyeol’s hand up to his chest, pressing it over his core mark.

Jongdae watches as Chanyeol interlaces their fingers, allowing Baekhyun to clutch his hand desperately, his chest expanding and contracting wildly as he sobs. He stares, seeing the picture in front of him and slowly seeing a story unfold in front of him. Baekhyun’s hand is nearly as large as Chanyeol’s despite their height difference, slender where Chanyeol’s are broader. Baekhyun looks delicate in Chanyeol’s hold, but Jongdae can see how desperately Chanyeol is holding on, the yearning clear in his eyes.

He sees this all and makes a decision.

Taking a deep breath, Jongdae slowly lifts his own hand, placing it on top of Chanyeol and Baekhyun’s.

Instantly, there is a spark, deep in his gut. Small and fiery, it flicks at Jongdae’s navel and makes him moan at the unique feeling, as if he is being filled with molten lava, all his breaks and cracks being filled and hardened over.

Baekhyun’s breath hitches wetly and Chanyeol’s face snaps up to look at Jongdae’s wide eyes.

“I’m here,” Jongdae promises them both, with heavy lidded eyes. He looks to Baekhyun first. “I want to try. I want to make it so you never have to doubt that I’m alive, that you can feel my heartbeat every time we go to sleep.” He lifts his eyes to Chanyeol. “I want to make it so you never doubt your place, that you can forgive me for keeping you out. I want to see what it is like falling in love with you beside Baekhyun.”

Baekhyun cries harder, nonverbal, but brings his other hand up to hold Jongdae’s tighter to them.

Chanyeol doesn’t move, staring at Jongdae searchingly, eyes uncertain.

Baekhyun, turns his head upwards again, eyes pleading, searching. “Please, Chanyeol. Need you,” he rasps, stuttering through his words as his throat seems to seize.

Jongdae jumps in, understanding his cue. “We need you,” Jongdae clarifies. “You said it, remember?” He gives Chanyeol a watery smile. “You promised you would do whatever it takes to make us fall for you. Don’t leave. We both have issues, but you’re not one of them.” His voice hitches at the last word, Chanyeol’s thumb tracing Jongdae’s wrist, following his vein down.

Chanyeol still hesitates, pink eyes guarded in a way that Jongdae already hates. He put that there, and it makes him feel awful. Chanyeol has done nothing but support them but he’s been treated as nothing other than an energy source. Even if he wasn’t their soulmate, Jongdae would burn with the indignity of treating another person like this.

“Are you sure?” Chanyeol finally asks after a moment of introspective silence. “You barely know anything about me.” Chanyeol’s eyes fall closed. “It makes sense, you know? That you both already have each other. You don’t need - ”

“We want you,” Jongdae cuts off firmly, looking into Baekhyun’s pleading eyes, begging him to stop Chanyeol from hurting himself. “You’re ours, Chanyeol-ah. Your mark was put on our bodies for a reason. Even if we’re better off as a platonic bond,” Jongdae thinks hard on how to phrase the next part, “I never want you to doubt that you don’t own a piece of us too. Baekhyun’s been half in love with you since you first met, so I hope you don’t decide you just want to be friends,” Jongdae says wryly, hoping he can diffuse the tension even just a bit.

Baekhyun’s wet bark of laughter is ugly but it makes Jongdae smile. Chanyeol’s lips twitch too, before falling apart. His eyes open, staring at Jongdae intensely.

“Are you positive?” Chanyeol asks, voice quiet. “Please, don’t hurt me anymore. If you want me to leave, I can do it now. But if you make me fall any more for your smile, for your voice,” Chanyeol looks at Baekhyun and Jongdae respectively, “I don’t think I can take it.”

Jongdae lifts his other hand, hesitantly bringing it to Chanyeol’s face, giving him plenty of time to move away. Chanyeol doesn’t, leans into the cup of Jongdae’s hand, eyes falling soft, the unshed tears making them look like precious gems.

“I won’t hurt you intentionally, I promise,” Jongdae says with conviction that easily rises to the forefront.

“Me too,” Baekhyun says, thick with emotion but that familiar determination prominent in his beautiful eyes.

Chanyeol ducks his head into Baekhyun’s shoulder, a large wracking breath sounding through the room.

“I want this,” Chanyeol says slowly, thickly, “so much. Please, give me a chance.”

Jongdae looks to Baekhyun, seeing the fire in his eyes. Baekhyun nods to him so Jongdae gets to his knees, leaning over Baekhyun’s shoulder. He uses the hand still on Chanyeol’s face to lift it up.

Chanyeol lifts his head, eyes widening in surprise as Jongdae leans in, placing a gentle kiss to Chanyeol’s lips.

Something lurches in his lower belly, his core trying to throw something up to bond with Chanyeol, but he’s still Drained. He ignores the feeling to focus on the wetness of Chanyeol’s lips, damp with tears and sweat.

Chanyeol doesn’t take more than a moment to respond, lips instantly parting, surging forward to kiss Jongdae desperately. It throws Jongdae off, completely unused to this level of passion from anyone but Baekhyun. His lips swell under Chanyeol’s gentle force and he moans lightly when Chanyeol sucks his bottom lip between his own.

Jongdae tugs himself back with a reluctant sigh, eyes fluttering open to stare at Chanyeol who looks at him wide-eyed.

Baekhyun is next, breaking out of Chanyeol’s hold to twist around, both hands tugging free to grab Chanyeol by his face.

Unlike Jongdae, Baekhyun’s kiss is fierce and dirty. He nearly smashes his face into Chanyeol’s, tilting Chanyeol’s face at an angle to get as much room as possible. Jongdae sees a small sliver of tongue just as Chanyeol shudders with a loud moan, mouth falling lax and letting Baekhyun in.

Low, simmering arousal pools in his belly. He can feel the ache of his core, desperately searching for the connection, the other end of it’s bond. But because Jongdae can’t offer any energy to start the spark, Jongdae has to settle back and watch.

Chanyeol is filled with the unfinished bond energy. His large hands clutch at Baekhyun’s waist, dip to his hips and hauls him close using his strength. Baekhyun moans brokenly before pulling away, panting loudly.

“Is this another sex thing?” Chanyeol asks, voice wrecked.

Baekhyun scoffs, a bit of his old self injected into his tone as he glares at Chanyeol. “Yah! You think I couldn’t sex Jongdae to health by myself? I am not trying to cheapen this, or you, Chanyeol-ah.”

Jongdae watches his husband’s eyes soften, fluttering closed for a second before they open to stare at Chanyeol sincerely. “I am sorry, honestly, Yeollie. I am not dealing with my grief well and Yixing warned me it might explode out of me. It’s not an excuse for my behaviour,” Baekhyun scowls, frowning as he breaks eye contact with Chanyeol to stare at Jongdae, “but I am not okay, Dae, Yeollie. Please, stay with me.”

Heart feeling like it may swell out of his chest, Jongdae hastily nods, clutching at Baekhyun and feeling that same energy mirrored back with how Baekhyun and Chanyeol push in close to him.

Jongdae doesn’t even realize how tense he has been until he slowly starts to unwind. Something has shifted between the three of them, and Jongdae can feel it in his heart. It has nothing to do with core marks, right now. It makes him smile softly, hopeful for what this means. 

“Of course,” Jongdae promises, “Til death do us part,” he says wryly.

Baekhyun instantly slaps him right as Chanyeol groans, “Too soon!”

“Don’t make fun of my trauma!” Baekhyun says right after, turning and tackling Jongdae to the bed.

Jongdae ‘oofs’, but accepts the weight all the same. He spreads his legs and lets Baekhyun slot in between them. It’s Baekhyun who turns around, arms out and beckoning to Chanyeol. Chanyeol barely hesitates before a small smile reluctantly appears on his face. He falls forward and Jongdae yelps.

“I’m still not recovered!” Jongdae wheezes out his protest, trying to wriggle away from all the weight.

Baekhyun scoffs, and Jongdae’s reminded of what a mess Baekhyun’s face still is when it sounds more snotty than airy. “Yixing physically healed you, twinky. If you can’t handle this weight we need to hit the gym again.”

“Oh, I love working out,” Chanyeol says eagerly, “we can work out together!”

Baekhyun and Jongdae snort at the same time, staring at Chanyeol in two different expressions of incredulousness.

“The gym is for losers,” Jongdae says right as Baekhyun says, “We’re just lowly humans, Yeollie, don’t expect much.”

Chanyeol pouts and something tugs at Jongdae’s heart.

“We can work it out,” Jongdae says in the lull of conversation, hand snaking around Baekhyun to touch Chanyeol’s face. “What we all like doing. This is new to all of us. We’re not building on Baekhyun and mine’s relationship, Chanyeol-ah. We’re going to go into this together, discover it all together.”

Chanyeol swallows thickly. It’s Baekhyun who answers him back, voice teasing, “Been thinking of that one haven’t you?”

Jongdae huffs. “You don’t listen to Yixing’s lectures and not figure out how to articulate your thoughts.”

Baekhyun makes a dismissive sound. “I got Junmyeon hyung. He tore me a new one for trying to ignore my trauma. He was right, but I don’t want to tell him that.”

Jongdae hugs Baekhyun close to his chest, making sure to keep eye contact with Chanyeol. “We’ll get through this, all of us,” Jongdae promises them both, thinking to his own issues. Physically, they all may be healed, but the scars from this will stay forever.

“I’ll be here,” Chanyeol promises, deep voice like a soothing blanket over them. “I will help you both as much as I can.”

Jongdae inhales sharply when Baekhyun suddenly bucks up, his ass falling down to grind on Jongdae’s groin.

“I have a few things you could help me with right now,” Baekhyun purrs and Jongdae stares at him incredulously.

“Really, Baek?”

But it’s Chanyeol who laughs, leaning down to tug Baekhyun into a kiss.

“You could just say you know I am suffering from an erection rather than make it sound like your idea,” Chanyeol says, raising an eyebrow in challenge.

Baekhyun shrugs, a cocky grin thrown upwards. “Not like I am losing. We could fuck with Jongdae but he likes to be wined and dined.”

Jongdae whines, hitting Baekhyun lightly. “Yah! Don’t say that like I’m a prude!”

Chanyeol interrupts Baekhyun’s teasing, looking at Jongdae with intense eyes. “I can do that. For both of you,” Chanyeol whispers, gaze shifting to Baekhyun. “We bonded because of necessity, but I want you to want me because of me.”

Baekhyun’s eyes soften. “Same here, Chanyeol,” he whispers back.

“I want to use this buffer,” Chanyeol says, “while Jongdae’s core is regaining its energy. To get to know each other. I want you out of your mind with pleasure when I touch you both.” Chanyeol traces his hand down Jongdae’s throat, leaning down to kiss the corner of Baekhyun’s lips.

“Fuck,” Baekhyun breathes out, his tone all too familiar.

“We can wait,” Jongdae confirms, but purposefully paces his voice slow, “but between you and Baekhyun, I want you to keep going. You’re going to have a lot of energy buzzing because of our unfinished bond. Baekhyun needs someone to ground him. I don’t think it’s right to put a full brake on this, not right now.”

“Are you sure?” Baekhyun asks hesitantly after a moment. “You were,” Baekhyun pauses, swallowing, “upset, when we - ”

Jongdae cuts Baekhyun off with a kiss, their first in what feels like forever.

“I was jealous,” Jongdae admits, looking from Baekhyun to Chanyeol. “My biggest fear was that I would lose you to our third. And then I woke up to see you bonded. I am going to regret those moments for the rest of my life. But I don’t hate that you’ve bonded. Chanyeol isn’t just the ‘third’ I built up in my head. He’s real. He’s mine just as much as he is yours. We’ll figure this out, but for now, I don’t want you to stop. Just,” Jongdae quietens down, shy under both of his mates intense stares, “don’t leave me out. Please.”

“Never,” Chanyeol says at the same time Baekhyun says, “Jongdae sandwich, got it.” 

“Baek!” Jongdae scolds, hitting his husband on the shoulder but relaxing at the familiar sound of his laughter. He knows, between him and Baekhyun, there is a lot to talk about. He didn’t miss the way Baekhyun’s eyes narrowed when he admitted his biggest fear. 

“Never,” Baekhyun echoes, lacing his fingers with both Chanyeol and Jongdae’s hands individually. “From now on, it’s the three of us, together. Forever, like we’re meant to be.”

Chanyeol makes a choked sound, head hunching. Jongdae watches as Baekhyun cooes, bringing Chanyeol in close so he can cry into his chest. Jongdae holds them both as much as he can, cherishing their combined weight on top of him. Baekhyun’s familiar, Chanyeol’s new but _oh so _right. 

They have so much to figure out. But he’s happy they can start here, agreeing to a new page. 

~✧*💎* ✧*⚡*✧*🔥*✧~

“What is that!?” Chanyeol asks eagerly, bouncing towards a store display window.

Baekhyun sighs longsufferingly but Jongdae’s still pretty patient. You don’t have Baekhyun as your life partner for over a decade and not build up a tolerance. 

“Macaroons, they are French desserts. They’re really sweet - they have a hard shell but soft cream in between. Do you want to try?”

“Jong_dae_,” Baekhyun whines, pouting at Jongdae in betrayal, tugging on their clasped hands and stomping his feet like a child. 

Jongdae is a bit sympathetic. It’s been almost three weeks since Jongdae’s woken up from the fight, and this is the first time they’ve been able to leave the compound without someone throwing up a fuss. It had taken the combined force of Jongdae’s whining and Baekhyun’s pouting to get permission to take Chanyeol outside and show him their world. 

They’ve been walking downtown for almost three hours, stopping at almost every other shop so that Chanyeol could gawk and try some new things out. 

According to Chanyeol, the Underworld and Earth are similar in a lot of respects. They had both pressed for more information but the most they could get out of Chanyeol was that he wasn’t too familiar with how the big cities do things, since he went from the slums straight into the military without much time to explore in between. Both of them had reluctantly decided to drop it, aware that Chanyeol was purposefully holding back information and allowing him the space he wanted.

No relationship is without an awkward growing phase. Jongdae still remembers his, when he and Baekhyun got together, two teenagers pretending to act like the adults they weren’t. After bonding, they had to learn to be friends first before falling headlong into love. It had been easy with Baekhyun. 

It’s not _difficult_ with Chanyeol. It’s just frustrating. Sometimes Chanyeol is an open book, wearing all his emotions plain to see as he bounces around HQ, getting into silly competitions with Sehun and Jongin, teases Baekhyun, and tries his best to make Jongdae laugh. 

But just as many times as Chanyeol is as shuttered off as a boarded down house in the middle of a typhoon. Jongdae has noticed how Chanyeol has done his absolute best to avoid Junmyeon and all their seniors at the SSDF. How, if they start asking about his past, he shuts down, directing them to different conversation topics. 

Time will change this, Jongdae knows, but there is still so much left unsaid between them that Jongdae feels antsy every time Chanyeol gives them a fake smile and turns it back on them, asking them questions. 

It had been Yixing’s idea to go out on a date. Junmyeon had protested vehemently trying to enlist BoA and Yunho into putting a travel ban - a literal ban from leaving HQ - on Jongdae. Most of it came from Junmyeon’s concern that he was vulnerable to attack, but a large part of it was they weren’t a hundred percent sure that the dark energy Jongdae absorbed had no lingering effects. And while Jongdae agreed he would wait a few weeks for a discharge order, there was no way he was going to spend it cooped up at HQ. 

But Jongdae knows how to handle Junmyeon and upon seeing the painfully hopeful light in Chanyeol’s eyes had turned to Junmyeon and said, “You don’t want me to develop a complex about going outside do you?”

And that had been that. (Well, that and the fact Baekhyun had threatened to start a prank war if they weren’t allowed to go.)

“They’re so colorful,” Chanyeol exclaims in delight. He’s practically vibrating and Jongdae silently counts down in his head. 

3...2...1…

“Come on then, let’s go get some,” Baekhyun says, sounding put out. But there is an indulgent smile on his face that not even the crowd of fans following them around can put out.

Chanyeol makes that face again, something hesitant flashing across his face before he laughs, shaking his head wildly. “Nah, no point. I don’t even know if it’s edible to me. We wasted enough time anyway, we should get to - ”

“We won’t know if it’s edible or not until you try it. If you start choking, Jongdae’s pretty good at mouth to mouth,” Baekhyun interrupts with a grin, winking at Chanyeol.

Jongdae barely gets to splutter, Baekhyun already moving. Without waiting for either of their input, he grabs Chanyeol’s hand and drags them both into the cafe. 

So now here they are, cozily seated in a colorfully decorated French cafe, Chanyeol greedily drinking coffee down like it’s the life blood he needs, a plate full of macaroons decimated. 

Jongdae sips at his ice americano, making a face at the drink Baekhyun is trying to force down Chanyeol’s throat, completely full of sugar. Jongdae honestly doesn’t think he can eat anymore, but Baekhyun and Chanyeol packed all the food they’ve tried today away as if they’re being paid to. He does have to admit, it’s fascinating to see what Chanyeol absolutely loves and hates.

They’ve been experimenting at HQ over the past few days and they have learned Chanyeol loathes mint, gets sick from oranges, and adores caffeine. Going out today and experiencing all the street food vendors was like taking Chanyeol to an amusement park. It was supposed to be an outing to get Chanyeol better clothes, but they’ve been sidetracked by multiple restaurants along the way. 

Jongdae had quickly caught on that Chanyeol doesn’t seem to have as big of a sweet tooth as Baekhyun but is dragging them to all the dessert bars because it gets Baekhyun to feed him. Chanyeol is sneaky with his charm, and Jongdae’s trying not to show how amused he is. Even now, the vampire - _their _vampire - has the long sleeves of his shirt adorably pulled over his hands, cradling the coffee cup in his hands as if it’s something delicate. It’s endearing, just how soft Chanyeol looks.

The picture is only ruined by his pink eyes flicking back and forth from them to behind them. 

“Do you always have so many people following you around?” Chanyeol asks, nervously looking over Baekhyun’s head where he can see the tables that have gotten full with their fans.

Jongdae doesn’t particularly care, so long as they don’t come near them. SSDF enforced that rule that anyone caught in their agents presence without their permission will be subject to fine, after the influx of fan mentality when Baekhyun and Jongdae had debuted in force, becoming practical overnight celebrities and nearly mobbed by their fans. 

Jongdae shrugs. “You get used to it. They’re not that bad, well not as bad as they used to be.”

Baekhyun’s lips curl into a frown, remembering how they used to get harassed by fans every time they stepped out of the dorms. “Yeah,” he agrees darkly, his arm around Jongdae’s shoulder tightening. 

Jongdae sighs but doesn’t comment on it. Baekhyun has been overprotective since they had their Talk. It wasn’t really noticeable when they were trapped in HQ but now that they are out and about Baekhyun has made it a point to always be in contact with Jongdae. The only time he backs off is if Chanyeol grabs hold of his hand. 

Chanyeol been great for distracting Baekhyun. Jongdae wonders when Baekhyun is going to catch on that Chanyeol is doing everything he can to make this about Baekhyun as possible. 

“Like in the novels,” Chanyeol has whispered to Jongdae when they made their plan last night, Baekhyun asleep between them, utterly exhausted from the latest round of fucking. “The perfect date to make up our for our first touch. Flowers, and slow walk, and hand holding.” 

There has been admittedly less of that than they’d hoped for because of the crowd they gathered. They all agreed, with BoA’s directive, that they keep quiet about their relationship for now. They were keeping Jongdae’s status as Drained off public record as well. With LORE active again, they didn’t want anything to prompt an attack or give them an edge. 

“Right,” Chanyeol said dubiously, going back to his coffee but there is a frown on his face. 

“Want more?” Jongdae offers, confused by the sudden slump in Chanyeol’s shoulders.

Chanyeol shakes his head, a rueful smile on his face. “Nah, I’m good. Should we get outta here?”

“What’s wrong? You went from a high to a low faster than it takes Jongdae to fall into his pout,” Baekhyun observes.

“Hey!” Jongdae protests, miffed. Baekhyun pats his hand absent-mindedly, still focused on Chanyeol.

Chanyeol tenses, minutely. “Nothing’s wrong.”

“Is it the crowd?” Jongdae asks softly. The little bit he can gather from Chanyeol, it seems that he’s not used to being around the public.

Chanyeol shakes his head. “It’s not. Really, guys, it’s nothing.”

Baekhyun and Jongdae stare until Chanyeol relents. “I was just thinking that your life is so different from mine. It hasn’t hit me yet that you guys are _somebodies _on Earth,” his lips quirk into a half smile. “I’m nobody.” 

“Hey!” Baekhyun is quick to jump in, a frown on his face. “You’re clearly not a nobody and I won’t have anyone, even you, talking down to you that way.”

“You’re kind, Baek,” Chanyeol says with a wiry smile. “But you don’t know anything about me. I don’t think you’d say that if you did.”

“I don’t know about your past, but I want to learn everything about you, Yeollie,” Baekhyun replies, earnestly.

Jongdae jumps in. “You’ve done nothing but save us since you got here. If we’re going by your standard, you’re more important to us than ever before. Besides, I am pretty sure that girl in the corner has been taking pictures of you, not us.”

Chanyeol ducks his head, a small blush on his cheek. There is a moment of silence that Jongdae lets simmer, pinching Baekhyun’s thigh when he tries to interrupt it. 

“There is a lot about me you don’t know,” Chanyeol finally says in a whisper. He looks around, eyes going up to the few faces staring at him before they duck down. “I want to tell you everything and nothing. I don’t want you to be ashamed of me.” 

Jongdae frowns. “Chanyeol, I have literally known you for three weeks and I can’t imagine you ever doing anything worth shaming you over.”

Chanyeol looks at them face expressionless for a moment before something heartbreaking crosses over his face. “I wish I could be what you built me up in your head. But I am not. But,” Chanyeol trails off, pink eyes closing before opening with a renewed intensity, “you’ve given me a chance. And selfishly, I don’t want to give that up, give you both up.”

Baekhyun looks around scowling softly. He is normally all smiles for the public but even his bouncy husband must be able to sense Chanyeol’s mood, understand that there is something deeper to Chanyeol’s words. 

Jongdae reaches out first, tentatively brushing his fingers across Chanyeol’s wrists. “When we get back, we’ll talk. We’ve been putting it off for a few days. Let’s finish getting you clothes and then we’ll head home, okay?”

Chanyeol pushes the fork around on his plate, chewing on his bottom lip. It highlights his handsome features all over again, his gleaming fang peeking out to rest on his full lips. The unnatural black of his hair falls over his eyes for a moment, hiding him from view.

Jongdae can tell that there is something Chanyeol is holding back on. He isn’t sure what to call it - intuition, observation, or what, but he remembers Junmyeon’s words, how he had said that he ‘was hoping against hope that he wasn’t the one’. 

Jongdae doesn’t think Chanyeol is dangerous, at least not intentionally so. But Jongdae’s spent his entire life training and fighting supernatural creatures. He knows sometimes instincts can cloud judgement, just the same as any human. It isn’t fair to Chanyeol to assume the worst, to put their guards back up after they had gone through painstaking labours to break down their walls and try to build a foundation of trust. 

“Don’t hide from us,” Baekhyun whispers, taking following the trail down Jongdae’s arm to lightly tap Chanyeol’s wrist. They aren’t being subtle at all, but Jongdae could care less right now. The world could be watching but Jongdae is determined to break Chanyeol’s bubble regardless of how it exposes them. 

Besides, he has never felt safer than walking between his two mates. 

“I’ll,” Chanyeol stops, takes a stuttering breath, finally meeting their eyes. He takes a deep breath and tries again. “I’ll tell you. You deserve to know what you’re getting into, who you’re choosing to be with. But. Later? I just want - ” he swallows, looking at them with such yearning, it makes Jongdae’ breath catch. 

Jongdae nods. He can hear what Chanyeol isn’t saying, know how badly he wants to just live in the moment and be happy with what he has now. If anything, it makes the warning bells in the back of his head chime just that bit louder, but right now Jongdae is happy to ignore them. 

Because beside him, Baekhyun has that stupid lovelorn look on his face, his droopy eyes soft with affection, a half smile on his mischievous lips. Jongdae can see how Baekhyun practically buzzes with curiosity, but holds himself back. 

“Okay,” Jongdae concedes. “Later, but we do have to talk about this, Chanyeol.”

“But first, shopping!” Baekhyun demands, breaking the tension that had accumulated around them.

Jongdae sighs, his tell tale pout forming on his lips. Before he can fully complete it, Baekhyun is there, swooping in to kiss it away.

“Don’t tempt me like that, baby,” Baekhyun husks, leaning in again to bite Jongdae’s bottom lip.

Jongdae’s hand tightens his hold around Chanyeol as he moans softly.

They’ve got more to talk about than just Chanyeol’s past.

“Cheating,” Chanyeol protests, voice quiet. Jongdae groans softly. Baekhyun and Chanyeol had made a game to kiss Jongdae as often and as much as possible. Any chance of this remaining a platonic relationship between the three of them has been buried six feet under. The air around them only charges harder and hotter as the days go by. 

They’ve had sex, but in the way they want. It comes from the need of Chanyeol weathering the lust-charged bond on his end and Baekhyun doing his best to redirect it towards himself. It’s easier when they’re touching Jongdae, bringing him along for the ride. Most of the time all Jongdae does is watch, with the few exceptions when Baekhyun needs him. Between him and Chanyeol, they’ve mutually agreed to take it slow. 

Until Jongdae’s core is healed enough to reciprocate the amount of energy he needs to complete the bond, they have time to explore without the permanency of the bond. Jongdae can’t say he is grateful or anything, but he’s glad that, at least, from that terrible attack came this boon. 

He has Baekhyun. And now he has Chanyeol. 

“Come on, let’s head out,” Jongdae says, tugging his husband and his mate up. 

Nothing was going to get done sitting around desserts.

Though they do make sure to buy Chanyeol one of every pastry before they leave.

~✧*💎* ✧*⚡*✧*🔥*✧~

Jongdae watches with half-lidded eyes as Baekhyun shudders in pleasure, climaxing hard with a loud moan, slumping back into the bed, spent. Chanyeol thrusts in a few more times before following suit, head thrown back with an almost silent groan, his hips shaking as they pump the last bits of his climax into Baekhyun. 

His own spend lays sticky over his groin. It’s tacky already with how much time had passed from stroking himself to orgasm. He’s almost half hard again but that is okay because he’s familiar with what comes next.

As soon as Baekhyun and Chanyeol stop panting, they turn, almost in tandem, to stare at Jongdae. Jongdae hopes that his shiver isn’t noticeable, that his shyness doesn’t peek through. He crawls over to his husband and his mate.

It’s only been a few weeks but they’ve already got a routine. Jongdae lifts his leg to straddle around Baekhyun’s waist. Last night it had been Chanyeol’s. Baekhyun’s hands immediately go to his waist, thumbs reaching to stroke the edges of Jongdae’s core mark. 

Jongdae braces himself, thighs tensing around Baekhyun’s, making a small spark of arousal jump in his gut. It only grows when Chanyeol’s slightly heaving chest meets his back, his hands laying over Jongdae’s shoulder before they slowly trace down his chest, palming over Jongdae’s nipples until they finally rest just above Jongdae’s core mark, Jongdae securely in Chanyeol’s strong arms.

“Ready?” Chanyeol asks. 

Baekhyun smirks at him, the familiar spark in them as he says, “Gonna cum all over me, sweetheart? Chanyeol’s got a pretty big load to give this time.”

It shouldn’t be hot, not with how Baekhyun is doing his best to be a nuisance, but Baekhyun could be reciting a recipe book and it would still get Jongdae to spring a boner when he talks right after being fucked out. 

“I’ve got _so _much pent up,” Chanyeol adds, chuckling. “Ready to spill it all inside you.” 

“Just do it,” he whines, tired of both their teasing, “give me your energy, you hornballs.”

Chanyeol kisses up and down Jongdae’s throat, his swollen lips and hot breath singing tingles of pleasure down Jongdae’s spine. “Anything you want, baby.” He feels Chanyeol’s smirk on his skin just as he sees Baekhyun’s grow. 

They move as one, hands falling on Jongdae’s core mark together as they push energy into him. 

Jongdae instantly moans, head thrown back. It’s always intense, but they hadn’t been exaggerating, Chanyeol really does have a lot to give this time. The energy presses into his core mark like a pleasantly hot stream of water, firm and continuous as it seeps in and in. It sets Jongdae’s nerves on fire, his core open and receptive to his mates energy. 

He whimpers, hips grinding down onto Baekhyun, cock hardening fully. Their energy caresses him from the inside out, making his sensitive nerves sing with barely a touch. 

Baekhyun stops sooner than Chanyeol does. “Just like that Yeollie, hold him just like that,” he says, dropping his hand to grab Jongdae’s leaking erection. 

Jongdae shudders, hips pumping helplessly into Baekhyun’s loose grip. But Chanyeol holds him firm, keeps him still as Baekhyun starts to pump, pace too slow. 

“Please, please,” he moans, head tipping back to Chanyeol’s shoulder, eyes slitting open to beg Chanyeol. He’s quickly learnt that Chanyeol is absolutely weak to Jongdae begging. 

Sure enough, Chanyeol moans, lips detaching from Jongdae’s jugular to kiss him on the lips. Jongdae opens his mouth and welcomes their third eagerly inside, a sweet mewl escaping his lips as Chanyeol seems to try and push more energy in him. 

It doesn’t take long at all for Jongdae to cum, not with how mercilessly Baekhyun plays him, how Chanyeol’s energy makes him melt so sweetly from the inside. With a hitched moan that Chanyeol swallows, Jongdae climaxes, hips stuttering into Baekhyun’s body. 

Chanyeol tapers the flow of energy and eventually pulls away. Jongdae opens his hazy eyes to stare at the way Chanyeol’s eyes practically glow with the unfinished bond. With Jongdae still Drained, he has no energy to reciprocate, nothing to send over to connect their cores to each other. Soon, though. 

“You can bite you know,” Jongdae offers again, though he knows how useless it is. His throat throbs with all the love bites Chanyeol left, feels sticky with the saliva Chanyeol left behind. 

Chanyeol presses a kiss to Jongdae’s lips before shaking his head, gently guiding Jongdae down into Baekhyun’s waiting arms. The idiot happily grabs Jongdae’s ass, smearing the fresh cum over his cheeks, ignoring Jongdae’s hiss of displeasure. 

“Relax, Yeollie’s already getting a towel to clean you up, princess,” Baekhyun says, rolling his eyes, “and at least you don’t have cum _inside _you.” 

“We should fix that soon,” Chanyeol comments, winking at them both. Jongdae and Baekhyun both snort in tandem. Not because of Chanyeol’s words, but because of how cheesy and awkward he sounds while saying it, grin too pearly and wide. 

“You’re the one who wanted moonlight, candles and roses,” Jongdae reminds Chanyeol as their vampire starts to clean them up, starting with Jongdae. It makes him throw a smug smile at Baekhyun who glares in displeasure. 

“Such a romantic,” Baekhyun teases, pinching Jongdae’s ass in revenge. It’s Chanyeol who knocks Baekhyun’s hands away, placing a quick kiss on Jongdae’s asscheek to soothe away the sting, making Jongdae yelp in embarrassment. 

“Hurry up and get into bed,” Baekhyun whines, spreading his legs and dragging Jongdae with him when Chanyeol cleans the cum leaking out of his ass. 

They’ll still need a shower, but Chanyeol has quickly learned what a cuddler Baekhyun is after sex and not even the smell and aftermath of it would get him out of bed without some pillow talk. 

Baekhyun rolls them away from the wet spot, Jongdae still in his arms. Chanyeol gets back into bed, arm easily falling over Jongdae’s waist, head tucked close to Baekhyun. 

“One day, we’ll get you so exhausted you won’t be able to get out of bed,” Baekhyun mumbles, slightly grouchy. Jongdae kisses it away. 

“Great long term goals, babe,” Jongdae teases.

“Set the standards high,” Chanyeol chuckles into Baekhyun’s shoulder. Jongdae watches as they both share an easy kiss. 

It’s nice, watching them. Baekhyun and Chanyeol are both ungodly beautiful, and watching Baekhyun surrender to someone other than Jongdae is absolutely mesmerizing to watch.  
  
And watching Chanyeol is like watching a flower bloom. Every encounter shows a different side of their mate. He can be soft and sweet, needy for both of them and absolutely lethal with his delicate gaze as he trusts them so easily. And then other times he is relentless and unyielding, going after their pleasure with a single minded determination it leaves both of them weak and loose limbed afterwards, Chanyeol looming over them with an intense look that speaks volumes. 

And yet, after sex, it happens. Chanyeol’s eyes go lidded, staring at both of them with such yearning, but filled with hesitation. Like he has everything he could want in front of his eyes but can’t bear to touch them. 

It feels like it’s only gotten worse since their first date. Chanyeol seems to hold on to his secrets tighter than ever while doing his best to try and spoil Jongdae and Baekhyun. 

And Jongdae needs to know why. 

As expected, Chanyeol already starts to emotionally withdraw away, his fingers slowly slipping off of Jongdae’s waist where he had been tracing a thoughtless pattern. 

“Are you feeling better?” Jongdae asks as an opening line. He knows sometimes it drives Chanyeol to the point of pain to have so much energy trapped inside him because of the unfinished bond. 

Chanyeol smiles softly at him. “Much better, yeah.”

Baekhyun frowns a bit, tracing a particularly dark bruise on Jongdae’s throat. “You don’t have to hold back like this, not with us. We’re your balance, Yeol-ah. We can help you with other types of lust too,” he tells Chanyeol, tone light but words heavy. 

It’s minute, but still visible, the way Chanyeol tenses. For a moment, Jongdae thinks that their vampire might just try and blow this off, but to Jongdae’s surprise he answers. 

“It’s not that easy, not for me,’” Chanyeol clarifies softly. “Feeding from your bond mate - it’s different. There is a special meaning it holds. That doesn’t come from my vampire side, so it’s not just as simple as you both smelling so tempting.”

“Vampire side?” Baekhyun repeats, brows furrowed in confusion. Jongdae realizes with a start that Baekhyun doesn’t know. 

Chanyeol’s widened eyes tell him it slipped his mind too. “I’m half,” Chanyeol explains, with the same embarrassment he displayed to Jongdae when he was bracing himself to explain what - who, he is. 

“A phoenix,” Baekhyun breathes in wonderment after Chanyeol hastily tells him his background. “I thought ancient shifters - I thought their blood was eradicated.”

Chanyeol does the same uncomfortable fidgeting he did with Jongdae. “It’s diluted,” he reminds them both, and Jongdae is absolutely floored again at how earnestly Chanyeol tries to downplay his rarity, his specialness. 

Baekhyun must feel the same because he shifts, dropping Jongdae into the cradle of their bodies so that he can reach forward to grab Chanyeol’s hand. “It doesn’t matter, Yeollie. That is fucking amazing, I didn’t even - ”

“It’s not,” Chanyeol interrupts, eyes overcome with a firmness that startles Jongdae. “I was born this way. I had nothing to do with it - I, it’s really nothing special. It’s so diluted the only advantage it gives me is using fire as a vampire. That’s it. And, um,” he breathes through his nose for a second, arms tightening around Jongdae, “the desire to mate, for life. That’s all.”

Jongdae thinks he understands what Chanyeol is not saying. There is no way to not see the heaviness of Chanyeol’s statement despite his seeming desire to downplay it’s levity. But Jongdae has never been one to push and Baekhyun is more intuitive than that. Chanyeol looks like he is contemplating making an excuse to leave their bed and Jongdae can’t have that, not when there is so much more he wants to know. 

Now, Jongdae can feel it, is the time. Chanyeol’s guard is lowered. Jongdae can sense, more and more, that Chanyeol is regretting keeping so much from them. If Jongdae applies the pressure right, he could get the answers they need.

After all, this weekend, Jongdae will be discharged and he doesn’t want them to step into their _home_ with this wall still between them. 

“Okay,” Jongdae says softly, rubbing his hand down Chanyeol’s arm to comfort him. Chanyeol does relax and it makes something unwind in Jongdae too, to mirror Chanyeol. 

It makes him almost regret bringing up what he needs to ask next. 

“Chanyeol?” Jongdae starts, uncertain. “Can I ask you something?”

Chanyeol’s eyes snap to his, the way his eyes drink in Jongdae almost makes him blush. It’s uncalled for, especially when Jongdae knows he must look like a mess from all the sex they’ve been having. 

“Anything,” Chanyeol says softly. 

Baekhyun hooks his chin over Jongdae’s shoulder, pressing him closer into Chanyeol’s chest. They’re too sweaty for this, really, but Jongdae understands both his mates need for tactile comfort. Baekhyun’s hand plays with Chanyeol’s mark on his back and Chanyeol’s eyes overlook Jongdae’s shoulder to watch Baekhyun’s slender fingers draw small shivers from Jongdae. 

It’s almost distracting enough for Jongdae to want to keep his words inside. They are in a safe cocoon of warmth and trust, and Jongdae doesn’t want to be the one to break it. But he also knows that someone has to broach the topic and Baekhyun is already falling too fast to want to risk upsetting the balance. 

So he swallows past the lump in his throat and asks, “How did you know Yifan?”

Instantly, both his mates tense. Baekhyun’s grip around his waist becomes so tight, Jongdae thinks he is trying to squeeze the breath right out of Jongdae’s lungs. His husband presses in so close, like he is trying to meld their skin together, a soft growl rising in his throat and drifting to Jongdae’s ear. 

Versus Chanyeol who flinches back leaving Jongdae cold as he pulls away and takes the warmth of his skin with him. Chanyeol’s eyes are wide and almost - frightened? 

“Chanyeol?” Jongdae calls, voice squeezed through his throat as Chanyeol looks like he may bolt from the bed. Chanyeol’s eyes drift over Jongdae’s shoulder and Jongdae just knows he is staring at Baekhyun who must have fire in his eyes. 

“I,” Chanyeol stutters, arm coming underneath him and lifting him up and off the two of them. 

Jongdae doesn’t want that. Doesn’t think he can muster up the courage to ask this again, when it’s so clear Chanyeol doesn’t want to talk about this. 

“Please,” Jongdae begs softly. “I know you want to tell us about yourself in your own time, but this - I need it. I need closure.”

Baekhyun’s breath is hot and heavy against Jongdae’s throat, almost like a bull. He knows his husband is doing everything in his power to remain quiet to give Chanyeol a chance to talk. 

Chanyeol still looks torn, eyes not meeting either of them. 

“Talk to him,” Baekhyun orders, and Jongdae’s heart nearly goes to his throat at the dangerous tone in his husband’s voice. It reminds him of when Baekhyun had been tormenting Chanyeol just a few weeks ago. 

Like he fears, Chanyeol shuts down. He pulls away physically, eyes blank as he looks over both their shoulders to take in the view of Seoul at night. 

Jongdae almost thinks Chanyeol is going to walk away and his gut sinks, a cold sweat developing. They just managed to find their pace, form a bond of trust and acceptance, to give this a _chance_ \- he doesn’t want to jeopardize it all. 

It’s on the tip of his tongue to tell Chanyeol to forget about it, regardless of how Baekhyun seems invested into this discussion now. He doesn’t want to pressure Chanyeol, to make him keep feeling like an outsider and he doesn’t want to have to keep mitigating all the thoughtless damage Baekhyun keeps inflicting. 

“He was my best friend,” Chanyeol answers flatly, to Jongdae’s surprise. Jongdae watches with emotion thick in his throat as Chanyeol gets up, swinging his legs off the edge of the bed until he’s slumped over, head in his hand, back to them. 

Jongdae’s breath hitches as he catches sight of the gouge mark across Chanyeol’s core mark, nestled in his shoulder. 

“What - ” Jongdae tries to say, but words won’t come. 

It hasn’t hit him until this moment that he hasn’t _seen_ Chanyeol’s core mark until now. They’ve only just started to have sex with each other and Chanyeol always seems to be on top, keeping his back away from both of them. When they’re not having sex, Chanyeol’s top half is always covered with a long sleeved shirt, baggy shirt. 

Jongdae hadn’t even noticed this pattern until it strikes him of the eeriness of _how in the fuck could he not have noticed _the scars decorating Chanyeol’s muscled back. 

How - _who!? _

Something sparks inside his gut, rage hot and thick climbing up his throat. For a second, Jongdae can almost taste his lightning. 

Baekhyun is the one to bring a hand up to his mouth, heavy, sticky palm falling tight over Jongdae’s slightly parted lips. 

Jongdae jerks in surprise, instinctively trying to get away, but his husband is firm. Jongdae strains to meet Baekhyun’s eyes but his husband’s are solemn as he whispers, “Later.” There is something heavy in the way that he says it, something he knows that Jongdae doesn’t. 

It doesn’t dissipate the rage, but it simmers it back down. Later. 

Jongdae quivers, but ultimately goes lax in Baekhyun’s hold, eyes going back to trace the angry scar lines criss crossing Chanyeol’s back. Like someone had taken a knife to him and tried to literally scrape the core mark off. Jongdae doesn’t understand, vampires are known for their strong healing ability and for Chanyeol to be part phoenix - known for their miracle tears -

“He was my best friend,” Chanyeol repeats again, and Jongdae’s eyes close, putting the thought away from now. Right now he needs to listen. “The one who saved me.”

Chanyeol’s hands clench in his thick black hair, and Jongdae feels the urge to tell Chanyeol ‘it’s okay, you don’t have to say anything’ overcome him all over again. He’s glad Baekhyun’s hand is still muffling him because he does need this, not just because his therapist told him he needed closure, but because he needs to know more about Chanyeol. 

“Saved you?” Baekhyun prompts after Chanyeol falls into a lull of pause. Jongdae’s thankful his husband’s voice has become softer again, more coaxing. 

“I didn’t grow up well,” Chanyeol speaks to the wall, shoulders tense. “I will - I’ll tell you about that some other time. Please.” 

Jongdae’s heart squeeze in pain. The way Baekhyun’s hold on him tightens tells him his husband feels the same. It’s Baekhyun who grabs Jongdae’s hand and guides it to the small of Chanyeol’s back. Together, they press their palms to Chanyeol’s still unnaturally warm skin. 

Chanyeol shudders, a soft sound echoing through the room for a moment before Chanyeol seems to choke it down. 

“There is a lot about me you don’t know,” Chanyeol finally whispers. “So much of myself I want to hide from you both. You’re everything I could have hoped - no, you’re more than I deserve, than I could ever dream of. I am nothing like you could have imagined, dirtier than you both - ”

“Chanyeol,” Baekhyun interrupts him, voice thick with anger. “I already told you. Don’t ever put yourself down. Turn around. Look at us.”

Chanyeol is so taut under Jongdae’s touch, Jongdae fears he might bolt and run away. 

But Baekhyun is as fast as light. Now that Chanyeol is with them, Baekhyun won’t let him go. The thought is reassuring, lets Jongdae relax a bit back into Baekhyun’s hold. 

“Chanyeol, we’re not perfect,” Jongdae whispers to Chanyeol’s back. “We - I’ve only hurt you since I met you. Don’t put us on pedestals we don’t deserve. I told you that whatever we decide to turn this in to, we’ll work on it together.”

There is no mistaking that Chanyeol is crying, his shoulders shaking with the restraint of holding back his sobs. 

Baekhyun moves first, detangling himself from Jongdae, which prompts Jongdae to move as well. 

There is no need to really discuss this with Baekhyun. They move as one, Jongdae slipping off the bed to stand in front of Chanyeol. Baekhyun shifts behind Chanyeol, legs bracketing Chanyeol’s hips, his sinewy arms gently tugging Chanyeol back into his chest. Jongdae slips into Chanyeol’s lap, prying Chanyeol’s hands away from his face with no small amount of strength. 

Chanyeol’s eyes are red with tears, the pink of his irises even more prominent than they’ve ever been. 

“We’re here now,” Jongdae tells him firmly, because Baekhyun already seems to be choking back his own tears. “We’re not going to leave you. Whatever your facing from your past, we’ll be there to face it with you.”

Chanyeol cries harder, breaking out of Jongdae’s hold to wrap his arms around his waist, tugging him closer and burying his face into Jongdae’s chest. 

Jongdae pets Chanyeol’s hair, trying to keep his own emotions level. Baekhyun peppers kisses across Chanyeol’s back, holding tightly and cooing at him in the way Jongdae wishes he were able to. 

“I-I can’t tell you all of it,” Chanyeol stutters through his tears. “I want to, I want you to know everything about me so you _know_ what you’re getting into because I feel like I am selling you a fake - ”

“You’re perfect,” Jongdae cuts him off, immediately. “You’re everything we needed, everything that I was scared of, would take my Baekhyun away from me. Don’t you dare think we are going to see you less just because we start to get to know you, where you came from. You’re _ours_,” Jongdae tells him fiercely. 

Chanyeol cries incoherently at that and Jongdae and Baekhyun hold him through it. 

After what feels like hours, Chanyeol’s tears finally taper away, and he lifts his face, bloated and messy with how hard he cried. 

“I’m sorry,” Chanyeol whispers, voice cracking, a small smile overtaking his lips. “I know you called me out for being shit at answering questions before.”

Baekhyun snorts behind him, his own face wet from crying. “No fucking kidding. I just want you to know that I am the emotional baby of this relationship. No more crying, ever, okay?” Baekhyun tries to say sternly.

Chanyeol makes an attempt at a laugh, one arm slipping from Jongdae’s waist to catch Baekhyun’s hand around his own. “I’ll try but I am spirited creature,” he teases. 

Jongdae rolls his eyes. “Figures I am stuck being the rock.”

Baekhyun makes an unattractive sound. “Jongdae rarely cries. I think he used up his quota for the next ten years in the past few weeks.”

Chanyeol’s small smile does turn into a frown. Jongdae sighs as Chanyeol’s hand drifts to his face, cupping his face softly. “That’s my fault, isn’t it?”

Jongdae scowls. “It’s no one’s fault. Shit happens, we deal with it.”

“So sexy, my emotional rock,” Baekhyun teases. 

Chanyeol thumbs Jongdae’s cheekbone, distracting him. 

“I don’t ever want to see you cry again,” Chanyeol whispers. “You have the most beautiful smile I have ever seen.”

Jongdae’s face instantly heats up, blushing harder as Baekhyun wolf whistles. 

“Smooth, Yeollie,” Baekhyun praises, hooking his chin on Chanyeol’s shoulder. “He is beautiful isn’t he? Takes the breath right out of my lungs when the sun hits him just right and he smiles at me.”

“Shut up!” Jongdae whines in embarrassment. “Can’t you guys read the mood?”

“Nope!” They both say cheerfully, stopping to stare at each other in surprise before breaking out into mesmerizing smiles of their own. 

Jongdae feels weak, seeing them together like this. It gives him strength to take a deep breath and say, “You don’t have to tell us until you’re ready, Chanyeol. I trust you, know you being truthful when you told me you would protect us.”

Chanyeol sighs, hand tracing down Jongdae’s naked chest to curl back around his waist. “I won’t let anyone ever hurt you again, either of you,” Chanyeol promises, face furrowing into something unrecognizable as he says, “even me. You need to know about me. I - Yifan, he took me out of the slums. Found me in a fight with some elves, of all creatures. They hit me with something - a spell, I don’t remember wheat, I was barely - 14, 15? - and it just bounced off of me.”

“Because of the phoenix in you,” Baekhyun clarifies, half in question and half as a statement. “They’re resistant to magic.” 

Chanyeol nods. “Most of the time I can play it off as being exceptionally fast for a vampire, that I can dodge the spells. But, there were a few of them and they were all chanting. One of them would have hit me for sure. Yifan - he,” Chanyeol takes a shuddering breath, “killed them. Took me in, because I was on my own, living with a few other street boys. He promised me, that with my skill, I could have a better life. And that was all I wanted. Mom and Grandpa were already gone by then. I had no one. What he was saying, what he was selling - this handsome, older, magic noble, to a street rat like me, it was everything I wanted, everything I needed to hear.”

Jongdae swallows past the instinctive anger that surges up. Baekhyun isn’t as kind. “He manipulated you.”

Chanyeol barks a laugh. “If only it was as easy as that. If I could blame him for everything, I could sleep better at night. But I can’t. The values he introduced to me, the world he showed me - it all came down to blood superiority. He was the one to tell me I was a phoenix born. Helped me hone my core, took a chance on me when no one else would, when they saw me as the charity project. He told me I was special, that I deserved the world. And I believed him.”

There is a lot to unpack. Jongdae shares a hesitant look with Baekhyun unsure where to start. 

“You _are_ special,” Baekhyun says firmly, lips pressed to Chanyeol’s skin. Chanyeol shudders between them and Jongdae kisses his cheek, to make him feel more grounded. “I will tell you that over and over again, until the sun runs dry, the moon crumbles to dust, and the Earth dies.”

“Baekhyun,” Chanyeol chokes, breathing heavily. Jongdae can tell how hard Chanyeol struggles with those words and it makes his gut clench uneasily. Just what kind of life has Chanyeol lived so far? 

“I don’t understand, if you were out of the slums - if you had a core, you would have been invited to Earth,” Jongdae pursues, subtly trying to lead them away from the topic that seems to trigger Chanyeol so bad. 

Chanyeol’s hand tightens on Jongdae’s waist, a mirthless laugh escaping his lips. “No offence, but not every Underworlder wants to go to Earth. Yifan, he was like that. Said he didn’t want to step foot into the vermin infested land, not even to feel the magic. He held me back, promised he would teach me himself. And he was a Prince candidate at this point. It was flattering to have all this attention, I didn’t doubt it for a second. He told me that my mates, they would be in the Underworld, there was no need for me to go up because someone as special as me wouldn’t have humans as mates. And I believed him.”

Something niggles at the back of Jongdae’s mind, and unwittingly, Junmyeon’s cautious words all those weeks ago ring in his head. Chanyeol and Yifan - it’s more than clear something wasn’t right. 

Biting his lip, Jongdae chooses to let it go, for now. He doesn’t have Chanyeol’s full story, and it’s breaking his heart seeing their mate’s big eyes brim with unshed tears. 

Baekhyun strokes Chanyeol’s arms. “It’s not your fault,” Baekhyun says softly. 

Chanyeol shakes his head. “I could have had you both years ago. If I had just pushed, told Yifan that I felt like I needed to go to Earth, but I can’t imagine how that conversation would have gone over. Yifan was an elitist, would have disowned me for trying to think positively of Earth, and I couldn’t have that, not from the first person to give a shit about me.” 

Jongdae doesn’t get it, not really. He’s always had a family that loved him, spoiled as the baby by his parents and older brother and then by Baekhyun, Junmyeon and Yixing. He has never doubted he belonged, and except for the haunting of their third mark, grew with confidence into his skin. 

It hurts to know he couldn’t have done that for Chanyeol. 

“That’s all in the past,” Baekhyun says earnestly, taking the feelings Jongdae can’t voice and putting them into words, “you’ll never feel alone again, never feel like less with us. Not here.”

Jongdae nods, leaning forward to place a gentle kiss on Chanyeol’s lips. It feels right. 

Chanyeol doesn’t have his heart, not yet, but Jongdae already considers Chanyeol his. He knows it’s only a short time before he falls as hard and deeply as Baekhyun is. 

“You came to us when we needed you most,” Jongdae says with a smile. “That’s all that matters.”

Chanyeol presses into Jongdae again, gathering him close. “It shouldn’t have happened like that. You both, the thought of both my mates, it’s what finally got me away from Yifan, knowing that they could never have been proud of the shit I had been doing with - under Yifan. Seeing you both being attacked by him, I can’t tell you how I felt,” Chanyeol’s voice gradually gets softer, his last words said with such pain Jongdae feels like a vice has wrapped around his heart and is squeezing it just to make it hurt. 

“Was he still your friend at that point?” Baekhyun asks, voice carefully neutral. 

Chanyeol helplessly shrugs. “I don’t know if he ever thought of me as a friend, not really. By that point, Yifan and I had fallen out of contact for almost two years. I climbed up the military ranks and he kept pulling away, distancing himself. Then, Yifan disappeared. It’s why I was in Dead World, the day the Summoner managed to pull me. I was looking for Yifan, because there was a rumor he had abandoned his Prince candidacy. Yifan was always unstable, but he didn’t really tip over until he met Tao, almost three years ago.”

“The one I killed,” Jongdae says, trying to get the pieces in his head straight. “He was Yifan’s mate.”

Chanyeol nods. “There is a lot there to tell you about, but maybe for another day?” 

Jongdae immediately nods, hands cupping Chanyeol’s face to thumb underneath his tired eyes. “Thank you, for telling me.”

Chanyeol shakes his hand, grabbing Jongdae’s hands and gently placing a kiss on each wrist as he brings them down. “Nothing to thank for, you both deserve to know.”

“I need to ask you something too,” Baekhyun says, voice subdued. Jongdae and Chanyeol both turn to him in askance. “Are you planning on going back to the Underworld?”

White noise rings through Jongdae’s ears. 

Jongdae turns wide eyed to Chanyeol, mouth dry as he waits for Chanyeol’s response. 

Chanyeol hesitates, making Jongdae’s stomach sink. “I don’t want to go back, but I have - there is something I have to do.”

“Can we help?” Baekhyun immediately asks. Jongdae can see how tense his husband is, knows this must be hard for him to hear this. Afterall, Baekhyun had been pining for their third for years. They finally have him - 

Chanyeol starts to shake his head before he pauses, something flashing across his face. 

“I have more to tell you,” Chanyeol admits, voice quiet and withdrawn, “but I think I should tell you when you have Prince Suho with you.” 

Jongdae shares a surprised look with Baekhyun. “Junmyeon hyung? Why?”

Chanyeol swallows. “I promise, it will make more sense, but it would be easier for him to be there. He’s King Candidate. I know he has a soft spot for you both,” Chanyeol mouth twists into something wiry, “which is fucking wild to me, since he’s almost untouchable in the Underworld. He’ll want to know.”

Baekhyun shrugs when Jongdae looks to him. “I mean you’ve had access to him this entire time, you weirdo. But if you want to do it formally, we’ll ask for an audience with him -”

There is a bit of panic in Chanyeol’s eyes. Despite his brain telling him it’s a bad idea, Jongdae decides to follow his heart. 

“After I get my core back,” Jongdae says, cutting Baekhyun off. 

Baekhyun raises a quizzical eyebrow at Jongdae but he must immediately catch on with the way Chanyeol practically slumps in his hold. 

They both share a look, easily reaching an understanding. 

“We’ll ask to talk to him later. I’m sure he’s going to be busy as fuck anyway, since he’s taken an impromptu vacation to babysit us. We’ll focus on ourselves for now, until Jongdae’s core is healed. But after, Chanyeol we need - ” Baekhyun’s voice wavers with frustration, losing it’s firmness. 

Chanyeol strokes Baekhyun’s hand. “I promise. Give me time to work up to it. I’ll tell you both everything.” 

“Whatever it is you need help with, after it’s done, you’ll stay with us?” Baekhyun asks, slightly insecure. 

Jongdae yelps, flailing as Chanyeol easily grabs him, flipping him around and putting him next to Baekhyun. Chanyeol tips them both back on the bed, knees between their thighs and arms pressed by either side of their heads. 

“I finally have you both, there is nothing that could make me willingly part from you,” Chanyeol says with such fierce conviction, Jongdae feels his heart pound fiercely against his ribcage. 

Baekhyun laughs, delighted, while Jongdae’s face heats up at the intensity in Chanyeol’s eyes. Baekhyun, the fucker, glows white and this time it’s Chanyeol yelping, Baekhyun manhandling Chanyeol to take his previous place, Baekhyun now looming over them both. 

“Good,” his husband says simply, a heartfelt grin on his face. “I finally have both my mates under me. It’s all I have wanted since I first realized what it meant to have a mate. I am glad we have been talking about our feelings like serious adults,” Baekhyun teases, “but all these declarations of undying love is making me feel some type of way.”

Jongdae snorts. “Who is proclaiming undying love here?”

Baekhyun gasps, affronted. “My own waifu! After all that you put us through you have no choice but to stay with us forever.” 

“What are you grinning at?” Jongdae jabs at Chanyeol, seeing the goofy grin on Chanyeol’s face. 

“I like the way you say ‘us’,” Chanyeol admits, gathering Baekhyun and Jongdae to his chest. 

“I feel like I’ve also reached my threshold of emotions for the next ten years,” Jongdae grumbles into Chanyeol’s armpit.

“I’m glad Chanyeol is here with me, it is so much fun getting you flustered,” Baekhyun coos at Jongdae, pinching his cheeks. 

“If we’re done with our heart to heart, then I want a shower,” Jongdae complains, trying to wiggle away. 

“For now,” Baekhyun says, voice dropping down to serious for a second. “We still have a lot to talk about. But we have time.”

Jongdae nods, elbowing a slightly subdued Chanyeol in the ribcage. “Go dunk Baek in. Remember what I told you? Fucker has to carry fuckee to the bathroom. I’ll be in after I change the sheets.”

Chanyeol chokes on his spit, a sudden laugh bubbling in his throat. “How could I forget? I guess I have no choice but to obey.”

Baekhyun makes grabby hands, already back to his playful mood. “We’ll house train you yet, puppy!” 

Chanyeol snorts, but doesn’t freeze at the mention of ‘house’. They’d been telling Chanyeol they’ll be taking him back to their home and their third had just added it to the topic of things he awkwardly skirted around. But these past few days, Jongdae’s seen the eagerness in their mate and it makes him relax a bit. 

“Why am I the puppy? I am a dangerous creature of the night!” Nevertheless, Chanyeol obediently gathers Baekhyun into his arms. 

“Jongdae’s my cute little kitty,” Baekhyun explains, grinning brightly, “and he calls me his sly fox. You, my kicked puppy, fall into our trio to round us out.”

Chanyeol smiles so brightly, Jongdae thinks he might be able to count all his teeth. 

It’s better like this, seeing Chanyeol happy, enamoured. With Baekhyun in his arms, the picture is complete. 

It’s astonishing to think just a little while ago, Jongdae had loathed the idea of a third, taking Baekhyun’s attention away. But now Jongdae can’t imagine a future without Chanyeol, doesn’t think he can ever compare Baekhyun’s smile to the brilliance it radiates now. 

“Come here,” Baekhyun orders Jongdae. “We’ll wash the sheets later, we’ll be outta here soon enough.”

Jongdae spares a thought that HQ will be glad to have them off their laundry bill. 

“His highness has spoken,” Chanyeol adds on raising an eyebrow at Jongdae. “You must either adhere to the law created by his words or I must enforce them.”

Jongdae rolls his eyes, a spark of fondness already rooting itself in his heart. “I’m coming, I’m coming,” he grumbles with faux grumpiness. 

“Not yet you’re not,” Baekhyun croons. “But you will be.”

Chanyeol perks up, eyes shifting from playfulness to greedy eagerness. 

Jongdae easily slips beside Chanyeol, leaning over to press a kiss onto Baekhyun’s puckered lips. 

This - Baekhyun and Chanyeol, in front of him, already bonded and already starting to fall in love, it’s easier to accept than Jongdae could have ever believed. Because truly, he understands he belongs right here, with them. 

And for now, that is enough. 

Jongdae knows there is still much left unsaid, remembers Junmyeon’s cautious words all to clearly. He knows the empty bond space between himself and Chanyeol is still something they need to talk about. Knows he and Baekhyun need to sit and talk about their feelings. 

But for now, here in his home, his mates in front of him, both beckoning to him, Jongdae thinks he can truly say he is happy. 

~✧*💎* ✧*⚡*✧*🔥*✧~

✧💎⚡🔥✧ [EPILOGUE] ✧💎⚡🔥✧

“You promise to call me if you feel the slightest bit sick?” Yixing asks him worriedly, fussing over Jongdae’s jacket. Jongdae can’t believe their friend came back from his assignment just to say goodbye to Jongdae, when he’d already been in and out of HQ since Jongdae stabilized around week two. 

“Yes, dad,” Jongdae intones, voice bored. 

“Take care of Jongdae,” Junmyeon chimes in beside Yixing, tucking Baekhyun’s shirt more comfortably over his shoulders. “And don’t overstress yourself. Remember to eat more vegetables. I want you to go grocery shopping when you get home. Do you have your card? Oh, do you need some cash? I can - ”

“We’ll be fine, mom!” Baekhyun cuts him off, whining nearly as hard as Jongdae. “Stop embarrassing us in front of our cute new soulmate.”

Jongdae watches with sharp eyes as Junmyeon looks over Baekhyun’s shoulder to stare at Chanyeol.

Junmyeon’s lips are pressed tight together, like he’s holding himself back from saying something. Jongdae’s been keeping a close eye on how Junmyeon looks at Chanyeol, and while he sees wariness and distrust, it’s the cautious kind, the parental kind.

Their vampire nervously looks back, meeting Junmyeon’s eyes for a moment before dropping them down subserviently. Despite seeing Junmyeon around the past six weeks, Chanyeol still hasn’t broken the habit of deferring to Junmyeon, completely weird to both Jongdae and Baekhyun who almost always forget how important their former leader is back in the Underworld. 

“You both take care of yourselves too,” Jongdae reminds them both, sighing as they both beam at him, a kiss placed on each of his cheeks by his hyungs. 

Baekhyun is immediately there whining, but to Jongdae’s surprise, it’s Chanyeol that gently pulls Jongdae out of their hold, possessively clutching onto Jongdae while Baekhyun cackles with glee. 

That is their cue to leave. They bid farewell to Yixing and Junmyeon as well as the few other SSDF members that came to see them off. Sehun, the little shit, gives them a basket full of condoms while Jongin giggles beside his partner. Jongdae ruffles their hair fondly, while Baekhyun tries to play fight with them. Jongdae watches with fond eyes as Chanyeol hugs them both goodbye, promising to be in touch soon, new shiny phone clutched in one hand.

They wave goodbye and step into the car that Junmyeon hyung rented to take them back to their house – their _home_.

It’s surreal stepping into their apartment. The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of change but their home remains exactly as it was, perfectly unchanged by the passage of time and new events.

Jongdae sighs at the sight of all their shoes in a disarray, clothes strewn all over the living room, Baekhyun’s bad habit. From a distance, Jongdae can see the white shirt Baekhyun had worn when he burst into their home all those nights ago telling Jongdae he found their third. He had meant to try and bleach the shirt to try and save it but there was no way to do that now. The stains would be impossible to get out. Maybe they should keep the pants though, where Chanyeol’s handprint on Baekhyun’s ass still remains -

“Wow,” Chanyeol says, shocked, behind him. Jongdae feels a smile tug on his face and he gracefully moves out of the way to allow Chanyeol to take his fill. 

“Welcome to our home!” Baekhyun beams, kicking his shoes off to slide across the high end tiles they had installed in their foyer. Between their salary and their endorsements, springing for a luxury apartment hadn’t been too hard. 

But Jongdae understands Chanyeol’s shock. Neither Baekhyun nor Jongdae came from money. 

“It’s…” Chanyeol trails off, looking lost as he gazes around, eyeing the large custom shoe rack Baekhyun had commissioned on the far right wall. 

“A lot, I know,” Jongdae says softly, coaxing Chanyeol to drop his meager bag full mostly of SSDF extra fatigues and little knick-knacks they’d picked up on their few dates. “You’ll get used to it.”

“Come on,” Baekhyun calls eagerly. “I’ll show you around. We have so much to christen!”

Jongdae rolled his eyes. Figures, Baekhyun’s first instinct was to go with sex. 

“Let’s check out the bedroom first! It’s where I told Jongdae how I imagined you holding him up against a wall and fucking him!”

“Baekhyun!” Jongdae and Chanyeol groan at the same time. 

Baekhyun had been teasing them both relentlessly. In the few short weeks the three of them have come together, Baekhyun often does his best to rile both of them up. One of the best things to come out of completing their bond will be tag teaming Baekhyun together, to get him to go silent in blissful pleasure. Jongdae can’t wait to turn the tables back on him, on _both_ his mates, when his core heals enough to start seeking Chanyeol out.

Each day is a step closer to letting Chanyeol into his heart. They’re not quite there yet but - soon. 

But there is no point in dwelling on these thoughts right now. Chanyeol is _here_ in the home Baekhyun and Jongdae have made for themselves and Jongdae doesn’t want to ruin this memory with thoughts of ifs and whens. They’ll fall into their pattern, in time. 

“What are you waiting for? Let’s go test - er, I mean - check out the bed!” Baekhyun says eagerly, tugging Chanyeol around like a child would a parent. 

Jongdae sighs as Chanyeol eagerly follows Baekhyun inside. Guess, he’ll have to be the responsible adult in this growing family. 

Instead of following after Chanyeol and Baekhyun, Jongdae makes a detour to the kitchen, checking up on the state of their fridge first and foremost. 

“Well, fuck,” Jongdae says with a dismal sigh. He closes the fridge door with a bang, head pressed against the steel. Figures Baekhyun would have forgotten to clear it out. Not that it’s truly his fault with how reluctant they’ve all been to leave each other’s side, Baekhyun having not returned home since the day he was forced to, but still. Jongdae has no idea how they’re going to get the mold out. 

“I’ll order us food!” Jongdae yells, listening for Baekhyun and Chanyeol’s enthusiastic answers. 

They’ve got a plethora of options, neither Jongdae or Baekhyun particularly good cooks. There are multiple takeout menus covering their fridge alongside polaroids of the two of them, random notes, to-do lists, and bills - which, Jongdae winces, they’ll have to deal with at some point. 

But first, food. 

Jongdae’s eyes dance over the fridge before deciding he is really craving fried chicken. He peels the takeout menu from the fridge magnet, frowning when it sticks to the back of the steel. Fucking Baekhyun must have gotten sticky sauce on the laminate again. 

He gives the paper a hard yank, flinching when the magnet holding the menu flies off, sailing down Jongdae’s hip and making a loud sound as it hits the floor, shattering. 

Jongdae stares in surprise. He wasn’t expecting that. He looks down forlornly at the mess. It wasn’t a fancy magnet but it was still nice all the same, a two glass cats with their tails curled together, teasingly given by a teacher of theirs years ago when they graduated SSDF for a class Jongdae can’t even remember. 

He bends down to clean it up. 

What happens next is nothing short of a k-drama. 

Jongdae overbalances slightly, presses down faster and harder than he means to while trying to pick up a large shard. He nicks his finger. 

Hissing at the sting of pain, Jongdae stares, betrayed, as a droplet of blood escapes the barrier of his skin. He straightens up, about to run his finger under the tap, but between one blink and the next, Chanyeol is there. 

Jongdae yelps, nearly screaming as he takes in Chanyeol’s sudden presence behind him. 

“Chanyeol, what the fuck?” Jongdae exclaims, hand on his heart. 

They, truthfully, haven’t seen too much of Chanyeol’s supernatural side. It’s startling to see Chanyeol here when he knows that Chanyeol was just in the bedroom, on the other side of their apartment. He traveled so fast, so _silently_, Jongdae couldn’t even brace himself, to think to expect to see Chanyeol there between the scant nano-second of his eyelids closing to blink. 

“You’re hurt,” Chanyeol says, voice strangled. Jongdae looks to him in worry, eyes widening when he notices just how red Chanyeol’s eyes have gotten. 

“Jongdae, what’s going on? I blinked and Chanyeol was gone,” Baekhyun calls, voice getting closer as he comes into the kitchen. 

“I - ” Jongdae cuts himself off, unsure on how to explain what is going on. 

“He’s bleeding,” Chanyeol informs Baekhyun, taking a step back, fangs out and biting his lower lip as he seems to struggle with himself. 

Baekhyun is instantly there, standing beside their vampire, a palm on his arm. “Are you okay, Chanyeol?”

Jongdae’s no longer confused. Chanyeol is fighting his bloodlust. 

Chanyeol exhales shakily, stilling visibly as if to show he isn’t taking in any breathes. 

“He smells so, so, good,” Chanyeol says, trembling a bit. “Can you please - ”

Jongdae immediately nods, turning around to clean the wound. Baekhyun doesn’t move from his position though, Jongdae thinks, that is more for Chanyeol’s benefit than his own. 

It doesn’t take more than a rinse. The cut isn’t deep at all. Once Jongdae’s finger is clean, he wipes it off on the towel, turning, unsurprised to see Baekhyun in Chanyeol’s arms, Chanyeol’s face buried in Baekhyun’s shoulder. 

Almost two months ago the idea of Chanyeol in his house with Baekhyun made Jongdae feel like he would tear the world apart in unfairness. Now, listening to Baekhyun’s soft croon, watching the way Chanyeol cradled Baekhyun close, holding on to him as if the smaller was the only thing keeping him together, it feels unfathomable to ever not have this. 

“Let me clean this up and we’ll order food, yeah?” Jongdae says, bringing out the broom and dustpan. 

“I’ll show him the washroom,” Baekhyun calls to him, already walking Chanyeol backwards. Jongdae watches them go with a rueful smile, disposing of the broken magnet happily. 

He orders his chicken from their favourite take out place and then opens up his phone to order a few blood bags for Chanyeol. It will take some time for their meals to arrive, so rather than check on his two mates, Jongdae settles for cleaning up a bit. He isn’t a neat freak, but he is far tidier than Baekhyun. It’s irritating to see his home in disarray. 

He manages to tidy up most of the kitchen before the doorbell rings. 

Jongdae’s just about at the door when both his mates seemingly materialize out of nowhere, sandwiching him between them. 

“It’s just food,” Jongdae sighs in exasperation. Both Baekhyun and Chanyeol are going overboard in their overprotectiveness. But Jongdae’s too tired to really put up a fight. He allows Chanyeol to pull him back to his chest, arms tight around his waist as Baekhyun answers the door, paying the delivery man and tipping him generously. 

“Man, I could tell he really wanted my heart in his hand,” Jongdae says dryly as they put the food on the table. 

“_Too soon_!” Baekhyun and Chanyeol echo indignantly at the same time. 

Whatever. 

Chanyeol’s meal arrives hot on the heels of the fried chicken delivery, and this time Jongdae kind of does get it when the delivery boy, a teenager with blood red eyes, starts to eye Baekhyun up and down. 

“Man, why order this stuff when you have a snack like this in front of you?” the teen leers, smirking at Chanyeol. 

Chanyeol makes a sound Jongdae has never heard before, almost subvocal, only heard because Jongdae is pressed so close to Chanyeol’s chest. The teenager’s pale skin goes almost ashy as he stiffens completely. He hastily shoves the metal container in Baekhyun’s hands, turns around and runs, inhumanly fast.

Baekhyun blinks, clutching the small container, staring at the money still in his hand before he stares at Chanyeol with a growing grin. 

“Tell me you can do that on command! That was fucking _awesome_,” Baekhyun says, gleefully. 

They eat together on the couch facing their fancy entertainment system Baekhyun insisted they have. Chanyeol finishes before them, but declines eating any of the chicken, to both their surprise. Chanyeol loves trying new human food, it’s been one of their few indoor date night activities. 

“I think he needs an outlet for his energy,” Jongdae comments as Chanyeol’s legs bounce up and down. 

Baekhyun grins, wide and salacious, it should be ugly with all the sauce smeared on his face but it’s just stupidly endearing. “Oh, I think I know what we can do to get rid of it,” he purrs. 

“Baekhyun,” Jongdae says in exasperation. “At least try a come on when you aren’t a fucking mess.”

“I’m always a mess,” Baekhyun pouts, lips looking redder from the remains of the smeared sauce. “A hot mess.”

Jongdae’s about to comment on that, when he catches Chanyeol shuffling his legs discreetly. 

“Oh,” Jongdae says instead, catching on. “Really? I thought - the blood didn’t help?”

Chanyeol blushes, face in his palms as he tries to hide from view. “Sorry,” he says awkwardly. 

“Don’t be sorry!” Baekhyun jumps in. “I’m sure that packaged blood has nothing on the tempting scent of our tenderloin of a husband, huh? Our waifu is the juiciest, sweetest, tastiest little morsel to eat up,” Baekhyun cooes, waggling his eyebrows at Jongdae. 

Jongdae shoves his hand over Baekhyun’s mouth to get him to shut up, but is defeated easily when Baekhyun licks his hand, making Jongdae hastily withdraw it with a look of disgust. He turns around just in time to see Chanyeol’s shocked face, the way he mouths something that looks like ‘our’. 

“I’m not joking you know, we really can engage in a few _activities _to get rid of your energy,” Baekhyun continues on immediately, staring at Chanyeol’s crotch pointedly. 

Chanyeol shifts, looking torn before he says. “Um. Are you sure?”

Jongdae stares at him, brows furrowed. “Why wouldn’t we be sure?”

“It’s your house, I don’t want to intrude,” Chanyeol admits, almost shyly. 

Baekhyun scoffs. “You’re _ours_, Yeollie. How can you intrude into a world that already belongs to you?”

Jongdae whistles, impressed by Baekhyun’s poetry. Chanyeol looks shaken, but there isn’t anyway to miss the way his eyes are painfully bright with hope. 

“Besides,” Baekhyun adds on, “what better way to commemorate this new chapter than by fucking on the bed in our home?”

Chanyeol nervously stares at Jongdae, almost as if asking for his permission. Jongdae thinks back to that hazy day, waking up and being so _hurt_ that Baekhyun would fuck someone right next to Jongdae. They’ve come a long way from then, intimacy something they’ve all grown comfortable with. But he understands Chanyeol’s hesitation, the way he looks at Jongdae carefully, can still hear the accusations he threw at Chanyeol ringing through his head.

He can’t take back that day. Can’t undo the hurt that his words caused. But here, he can show, through action, that he truly does want to give this thing between the three of them a chance. 

“Come on, Chanyeol-ah,” Jongdae teases, standing up and offering Chanyeol a semi-clean hand, “fuck Baekhyunnie through the mattress. I promise it’s a lot more satisfying on a California king.” 

Chanyeol nods, smiling bright and eager, taking Jongdae’s hand easily. “Anywhere would be satisfying, you know. As long as you two are there.”

Jongdae winces, lightly kicking Chanyeol’s shin. “No mushy business!” 

Chanyeol’s grin turns into a half smirk. “Aww, but I like seeing how prettily you blush.”

Baekhyun is right beside him with a smirk on his face. “That makes two of us. Let’s go, cuties. We got a bed to break in.”

They shuffle into their bedroom, only stopping to wash up quickly. Baekhyun takes some extra time, so Jongdae tugs Chanyeol to the bed sitting him down and climbing into his lap.

“You don’t have to look so nervous, you know?” Jongdae whispers to Chanyeol softly, settling down with his ass perched on Chanyeol’s half hard cock.

Chanyeol licks his lips, eyes slightly dilated now that Jongdae’s paying attention. There is a thin ring of silver around his irises, highlighting the pink in a beautiful contrast.

“This room,” Chanyeol inhales deeply, “it smells like the both of you. More than your dorm did. I can tell this where the two of you are together the most, where you two fuck. It’s potent, Jongdae-ya. Like you just fucked a few hours ago.”

Jongdae swallows, bottom of his stomach swooping at the heady arousal Chanyeol is emitting.

“It’s been almost two months,” Jongdae tells Chanyeol, voice pitched low, “but the last time we were on this bed, Baekhyun was fucking me until I couldn’t cum anymore. You know why?”

Chanyeol’s eyes go half lidded, a smirk appearing on his handsome features. “The night he met me. He came back to you, delirious with want, didn’t he? Nothing else he could think of except nailing you to this bed, make sure you couldn’t escape like I did. Did you like it Jongdae-ya? Baek’s full attention on you?”

Jongdae gasps when Chanyeol flips their position, quickly maneuvering them so Jongdae’s on his back with Chanyeol looming over him. He instinctively parts his legs, lets Chanyeol fit in between, head tipped back and lips pursed for a kiss that doesn’t come.

“Yes, you asshole,” he hisses when he sees Chanyeol’s expectant look, “now fucking kiss me!”

“Who am I do deny such a cute demand?” Chanyeol teases, leaning down to swallow Jongdae’s indignant protest.

Jongdae immediately moans, Chanyeol’s mouth soft and warm. Chanyeol’s tongue bullies between Jongdae’s lips, diving straight inside Jongdae’s mouth when they part easily. There is a faint taste of blood on his tongue. Jongdae doesn’t understand why a spark of lust flares in his gut at the taste, but his moan gets headier.

“Already starting without me?” Baekhyun whines, interrupting them by jumping on the bed with a playful pout.

Chanyeol breaks the kiss, looking over his shoulder at Baekhyun. Jongdae doesn’t see what face Chanyeol is making but he does see the way Baekhyun’s face morphs, the playfulness disappearing to take on a more wanton expression. His husband takes his pouty bottom lip between his teeth and flutters his eyelashes at Chanyeol.

Jongdae watches with open lust when Chanyeol reaches for Baekhyun – but Baekhyun dances away.

Chanyeol gets that flame in his eyes when he becomes fixated on something. In contrast, Baekhyun’s are alight with teasing seduction, as he carefully moves further back the more Chanyeol comes after him.

It escalates, of course it does when it comes to these competitive bastards. Jongdae moves so he’s lounging on the pillow watching as Baekhyun starts to bring out his training to dodge Chanyeol’s grasping hands, how Chanyeol tries to keep his supernatural side down to keep the play up.

At one point he manages to grab Baekhyun’s thin wrist, but it’s Baekhyun who executes his attack, using Chanyeol’s momentum to flip him down and across the bed. Quicker than Jongdae can ever hope to move, his husband straddles Chanyeol’s waist, pinning Chanyeol’s wrists by his head.

“Caught you, my little vampire,” Baekhyun purrs. His thighs flex, highlighted by the cut of his black shorts, straining to keep Chanyeol’s bucking waist pinned.

“I could break out of your hold easily, Baek,” Chanyeol throws back, husky voice full of amusement.

“But you want to be pinned, don’t you? Know that both your mates have caught you?” Jongdae jumps in, crawling over to Baekhyun and staring down at Chanyeol.

Chanyeol’s eyes widen before they go half lidded. “The only place I want to be,” he confirms, staring up at both Baekhyun and Jongdae, “under you both.”

Baekhyun grins, happy and so beautiful. Jongdae can’t help himself. He leans forward, capturing Baekhyun’s lips in a kiss.

His husband submits to him easily, mouth parting and letting Jongdae in. Jongdae shifts his grip, clutching the back of Baekhyun’s neck to tilt it the way he wants, kneeling to get his tongue in deep, to map Baekhyun’s mouth and play with all the areas that make him weak.

He startles when a hand wraps around his thigh, squeezing hard. Baekhyun makes the same sound, and they both part, chests heaving as they stare down at Chanyeol. Their mate looks up at them with unconcealed lust. It makes something echo inside of Jongdae.

“I had this grand plan,” Baekhyun says, voice low and heady, “of seducing you both. Of laying Chanyeol down beside you, Dae, and making love to you both, the first time we lay together in this bed. But we finally have Chanyeol home after all these years of waiting and I don’t want to waste another moment.”

Chanyeol nods, thumbing the flesh he has gathered in both his hands. “I’ll make it special, the first time we’ll do this as a complete bond. But for right now, I am going to fuck you until you’re crying in pleasure.”

Jongdae wholly supports this plan.

With passionate fumbling and very little coordination, they manage to unclothe themselves amidst a flurry of kisses and frenzied touches.

They end up with Baekhyun on all fours, Jongdae in front of him stroking his erection and Chanyeol behind him, two fingers already working deep inside a moaning Baekhyun.

“You want it?” Jongdae asks Baekhyun, who keeps his lidded eyes on Jongdae’s dick, mouth open and shiny with spit as he breathes heavily through his pleasure.

Baekhyun nods immediately, eyes imploring. “Sweetheart,” he begs, “give it to me.”

Jongdae cups Baekhyun’s face, thumbing his bottom lip. “This is everything you wanted, huh, Baekhyunnie? Two mates, both at each of your greedy holes. Just want to be the pretty thing in the middle don’t you?”

Chanyeol and Baekhyun both moan at his lower register, Baekhyun bucking desperately back as Chanyeol uses the opportunity to add a third finger.

“You don’t need to stretch him too much, Yeollie,” Jongdae commands. “He likes it rough, don’t you, hyung?”

Baekhyun chokes on a moan, eyes widening as he stares at Jongdae in complete want. Behind him, Chanyeol makes a pure noise of pleasure, taking his fingers out of Baekhyun to stroke himself frantically.

“Fuck, Dae-ya,” Chanyeol moans, “you have the fucking perfect voice for sex.”

“Do I?” Jongdae asks innocently, tugging on Baekhyun’s lip ignoring the way his husband tries to bite the tip of Jongdae’s finger, lips struggling to suck the little bit Jongdae’s given him, his oral fixation front and center.

Jongdae watches with an amused smile as Baekhyun starts to lose himself in impatience, neither Jongdae or Chanyeol giving into him.

“Fuck me already!” Baekhyun whines, wiggling his ass back at Chanyeol, knees spreading to arch it attractively. Jongdae tries not to let it show how his eyes are drawn to the seductive dip of Baekhyun’s back, the show of his apple hips perfectly held in Chanyeol’s large hands.

“Need it that badly?” Chanyeol asks, voice just as teasing as Jongdae’s. It makes Jongdae burn inside, in the best way, both of them taking Baekhyun apart between them. “The last time you came on your sheets, I wasn’t here, but you were thinking about me, weren’t you, Baek? Don’t you want to savour this a bit more?”

Baekhyun growls, eyes threatening to glow white for a second. Jongdae snakes his hand through Baekhyun’s hair and gives it a sharp tug, distracting him.

“We’ll give it to you, hyung,” Jongdae purrs his promise, legs spreading as he slides down, erection bobbing teasingly close to Baekhyun’s face. “You just have to show us how much you want it.”

Baekhyun whimpers, mouth open and pleading, his neck straining to bring his head closer to Jongdae’s cock.

Jongdae looks up and watches Chanyeol’s face, sees how their third is hungrily looking at the bare skin of Baekhyun’s beautiful neck.

“He wants to bite you,” Jongdae comments. Baekhyun doesn’t pay too much heed to his words but Chanyeol’s eyes snap to his. “Chanyeollie wants to sink his teeth right into your pretty throat. You’ll hold still for him, won’t you? The pretty prey in his lap as he sucks you until you’re delirious with pleasure.”

Baekhyun keens, hips dropping as he tries to get some form of friction on his cock. But Chanyeol’s grip is too tight, keeps him held up and not even Baekhyun’s pleading whines move him.

“The day I do,” Chanyeol pants, hands tightening on Baekhyun’s hips. “The day I sink my fangs in you, I will make sure you experience _euphoria_, Baek.”

Baekhyun moans, absolutely melodic with how much want is carried in the tone. Arousal nearly punches Jongdae in the gut.

It’s new, sharing a look with Chanyeol, both of them knowing when to move. For over a decade it was just him, deciding on his own when to chase after their pleasure. But now, there is the three of them, working together to reach their finish.

Chanyeol’s chest heaves as he takes a deep breath, eyes fluttering closed as he presses in and in. Baekhyun gasps, brown eyes going lidded and then shut as his face scrunches as he bears down on Chanyeol, lets him in.

Jongdae watches it all with hungry eyes. The first time he saw them like this, it had blown Jongdae away with how fucking hot it was. There hadn’t been any time for jealous, possessive thoughts, he was completely blown away at how Baekhyun loses himself in the pleasure of Chanyeol fucking into him. When Baekhyun fucks Chanyeol, it’s no less beautiful, Chanyeol’s surrender and submission so fucking sweet it makes Jongdae’s own teeth ache as if he can physically gain some capability of marking and owning these beautiful creatures in front of him.

It never ceases to lose its appeal and Jongdae doubts it ever will. Baekhyun mewls through hitched breathes, while Chanyeol rocks gently, letting Baekhyun get used to his girth. Jongdae withdraws his hand from Baekhyun’s hair, wraps it around his cock and strokes lightly as both his mates adjust in front of him.

“Good?” Jongdae asks softly when Baekhyun stops panting, starts to grind back asking for more.

Baekhyun opens his eyes, brown irises already blown with lust and making them look black. Sweat mattes his hair, pink dusts his beautiful toned skin, cheeks flush with arousal and exertion.

Chanyeol doesn’t quite look the same. His skin is pink, but he doesn’t sweat. He heaves breathes, his pink nipples teasing Jongdae with how they are peaked, ready to be bitten. Chanyeol is quieter than Baekhyun, lips caught behind his teeth, his fangs glinting as he struggles to keep himself in control.

The pair of them are fucking beautiful and it makes something fond bloom in Jongdae’s chest.

“So pretty,” Jongdae cooes at them both.

That seems to snap them out of their own heads. In tandem they stare at Jongdae, which almost startles him. Except the way they look, eyes heavy with lust, it’s impossible to be scared of that type of look, not from these two people.

“Fuck his mouth,” Chanyeol says, just barely cutting off Baekhyun’s plea of, “Give it to me, Dae.”

Who is Jongdae to deny them?

He scoots down the last few inches, hand twining back in Baekhyun’s hair and grabbing it before his husband can swallow his cock down greedily.

“Slow,” Jongdae warns. Afterall, they’ve never tried spit-roasting before. He has no idea how Baekhyun is going to handle being fucked from behind while also being fucked down his throat.

“I can do it,” Baekhyun insists, part whine, part beg. His tongue follows fast after his words, wet and hot as it meets Jongdae’s cock, licking a stripe up from the base to tip.

It catches Jongdae off guard. He moans at the feeling, hips twitching to chase after the heat. He barely stops himself, fisting the top of his cock to stop Baekhyun from sucking it down.

“Pinch my thigh if it gets too much,” Jongdae tells Baekhyun, making sure Baekhyun is paying attention.

His husband gives him an irritated glare, impatience making him lap at Jongdae’s hand as if he can get to the cock hidden underneath. It makes Jongdae fight back a laugh at his husband’s silly antics but, strangely, it doesn’t ruin the mood.

“That desperate for cock, huh?” Chanyeol observes aptly, breath already caught. He smirks down at Baekhyun, one hand removed from his hip to trace Baekhyun’s spine down with a finger.

Baekhyun stops, shivering at the unexpected feeling. He grinds back on Chanyeol’s dick, whimpering when he still can’t move as he wants to, caught between Chanyeol’s powerful hand and Jongdae’s twisted in his hair.

“Please,” he begs, eyes wetting, “fuck me, please, I want to cum, don’t tease me!”

Jongdae laughs, a sharp tug making Baekhyun turn back to face him. “Yeollie already can tell what a desperate cockslut you are. Didn’t you want to try and hold onto your image a bit longer, _hyung?_”

Baekhyun whimpers shaking. “Don’t need it, please, love, not with you two. Fuck me, please, fuck me!”

Chanyeol groans, hands back at Baekhyun’s hips. “How do you resist when he begs like that?”

Jongdae smiles ruefully. “I don’t.”

He lets go of the hand covering his dick, going so far as to guide it into Baekhyun’s mouth. His husband immediately moans, eyes fluttering as he lurches forward, trying to get it all in his mouth.

Jongdae cries out, a hand coming up to his mouth to try and keep quiet. It’s so much all at once, Baekhyun’s mouth so hot and wet, wasting no time in sucking hard, mouth opening more and more until Jongdae’s cockhead is bumping the back of Baekhyun’s throat.

“Baek,” Jongdae moans, hand fisted in Baekhyun’s hair tightening as pleasure builds. Fuck, it’s been so long since he’s had Baekhyun’s mouth on him.

Chanyeol pants heavily, shivering almost unnoticeably. He’s holding back and it makes Jongdae struggle to catch his breath to say, “Did you hear him? He wants to be _fucked_, Yeollie. Give it to him.”

Chanyeol shudders, all his inhibitions seemingly cut at Jongdae’s command. He rears back, drawing a whine from Baekhyun that Jongdae feels down his cock, into his nerves.

“This is what you asked for, Baek,” Chanyeol groans, before fucking back into Baekhyun’s hole.

Jongdae and Baekhyun cry out in tandem, the force of Chanyeol’s thrust forcing Baekhyun forward until he chokes on Jongdae’s cock, forced to take it all in one go. Baekhyun’s arms buckle, making him face plant into Jongdae’s lap. 

Jongdae’s first instinct is to fuck into Baekhyun’s throat, but he holds himself back, scrambling to help Baekhyun get back onto his forearms. But Baekhyun doesn’t move, only spreads his legs wider, one arm curling around Jongdae so he can keep him still.

It makes Jongdae grit his teeth, absolutely inflamed with arousal as he watches Baekhyun get fucked, Chanyeol starting to thrust in steadily upon Baekhyun’s nonverbal cue.

Jongdae switches to petting Baekhyun’s hair, gasping as Baekhyun weakly, distractedly sucks. In the back of his mind, he knows he’s lucky Baekhyun isn’t biting down with how hard Chanyeol is fucking into him, pace increasing as the seconds go by and all three of them fall further into their pleasured haze. Figures Baekhyun would be good at this too.

Jongdae’s toes curl, arm shaking as he supports himself with it. He could sink back into the pillows, knowing Baekhyun would like that, but he prefers this position, as near to Baekhyun as possible, keeping his husband between the two of them, where he belongs.

“Our bridge,” Jongdae whispers under his breath, completely in awe with how Baekhyun loses himself in pleasure.

Baekhyun stops sucking, reduced to just moans around Jongdae’s cock, completely lost in the way Chanyeol fucks into him so good. It’s hard to focus on one thing to look at, awestruck by the way Chanyeol looks like a sex god, abs rippling as he draws his large cock back and in. The silver of his eyes has only expanded to the point where the pink is only a fleck. It’s absolutely mesmerizing, the beauty of Chanyeol lost in pleasure. Baekhyun’s body looks so small, delicate in the way he rocks back and forth between them, trusting them to take care of him.

Chanyeol’s breath hitches and inexplicably his pace slows down for a moment. Baekhyun cries around Jongdae and it makes him grit his teeth against a cry.

“You’re not fucking him,” Chanyeol says, voice breathy.

Jongdae catches on immediately, even as Baekhyun makes a confused, protesting sound when Jongdae tugs Baekhyun off his cock.

Baekhyun pops off with a cough, mouth swollen and spit-slick, eyes dazed as he stares at Jongdae in a daze. “What?”

Jongdae doesn’t bother to answer, switching his position so he’s kneeling in front of Baekhyun. Even as fucked out as he is, his husband understands immediately, shakily propping himself on his two hands.

“Just focus on staying up, alright?” Jongdae commands, bracing his legs apart and getting his cock aligned to Baekhyun’s mouth. It’s not quite right, Chanyeol taller than them and forcing Baekhyun’s hips to hitch higher to keep his ass canted at the perfect angle. But Baekhyun and Jongdae are flexible, literally, so they make it work. Baekhyun pants against Jongdae’s cock, eyes begging.

Chanyeol groans, a deep sexy sound. “You don’t need to clench up, baby,” Chanyeol pants, “we’ll make you feel so good.”

Jongdae nods, thumbing under Baekhyun’s eyes that have spilled a few tears. “All you have to do is let us in.”

Baekhyun moans, tongue out and beseeching and Jongdae isn’t strong enough to deny himself anymore.

With a shared look with Chanyeol, they fuck in at the same time.

Baekhyun’s moan is muffled around Jongdae’s cock but it feels so good Jongdae has to grit his teeth against the rising crest at the bottom of his belly.

“Ready?” Chanyeol calls to him, tone almost challenging. Jongdae raises an eyebrow at grins at their third, both hands now fisted in Baekhyun’s hair.

“Try it, Yeollie. Try to make him cum untouched,” Jongdae throws right back, grinning and riding Baekhyun’s immediately mewl with a teasing thrust back.

Chanyeol smirks right back at him, fucking Baekhyun forward.

They establish a rhythm so easily, it almost throws Jongdae off. Baekhyun is reduced to a whining mess between them, spit dripping from his mouth, tears in his eyes as he moans on every staggered breath Jongdae allows him to take, fucking down his throat fast and hard before he pulls back to let Baekhyun breathe.

Chanyeol’s the one to change the game, strong hands hitching Baekhyun’s hips so high, Jongdae instinctively knows it’s not Baekhyun supporting himself anymore. Baekhyun’s muffled cry is just short of a scream and it makes Jongdae falter, balls drawing up tight.

“Is that your sweet spot, love?” Chanyeol croons. Jongdae watches with awed eyes as Chanyeol wraps an arm around Baekhyun’s waist, hand diving down to encase Baekhyun’s leaking cock with a loose grip.

Baekhyun is trying to say something but Jongdae doesn’t feel like hearing him beg for something he doesn’t want to give.

“Trying to give him hope?” Jongdae says on a hitched breath, giggling meanly.

Chanyeol does something, it makes Baekhyun sob so hard around Jongdae he’s forced to pull back in case his husband accidentally chokes or gags.

Baekhyun breathes hard, all sex sounds, unable to form the words he needs. Jongdae pets Baekhyun’s head condescendingly.

“Feels good?” Jongdae asks, Baekhyun immediately nodding in answer.

“You love it don’t you, baby? Love being fucked,” Chanyeol attacks back, withdrawing his hand back to the sound of Baekhyun’s devastated whine.

Baekhyun tries to buck back but Jongdae doesn’t loosen his hold.

“Ready to make him cum?” Jongdae asks, barely resisting the urge to lean down and kiss Baekhyun’s panting, ruined mouth.

“Fuck yes,” Chanyeol moans, getting back into that same position that must be rubbing against Baekhyun’s prostate.

Baekhyun’s moan is so crystal clear, so wanton, Jongdae almost regrets plugging him back up with his dick.

Jongdae’s never been so thankful for Baekhyun’s lack of gag reflex. It’s so easy to sink right back down and in.

Chanyeol has stopped holding back. He fucks into Baekhyun with a renewed effort, the sound of his skin slapping against Baekhyun’s erotic and drives Jongdae higher in his pleasure.

Baekhyun is nearly limp between them, trembling as he struggles to remain upright. He won’t stop moaning, and that, the steady vibration against Jongdae’s cock, the way Baekhyun looks absolutely ruined between them, the way Chanyeol fucks hard and fast, face and body on display for Jongdae to greedily drink in – he can’t hold out.

Jongdae cums with a loud moan. His hips twitch, fucking into Baekhyun’s mouth minutely, never quite withdrawing out as he spills his load down Baekhyun’s throat. He has enough presence of mind to pull out after a few seconds, to let Baekhyun try and swallow.

Baekhyun coughs, cum spilling from the corner of his lips, trying to swallow and breathe at the same time.

“Lay down,” Chanyeol commands sharply.

Jongdae does so, arms out and beckoning. Baekhyun collapses onto his chest with a fucked out cry.

It’s so easy now to tilt his head and devour Baekhyun’s lips in a kiss. Jongdae can taste himself in Baekhyun’s mouth, chases after it as Baekhyun goes lax, letting Jongdae lick into him as he wishes. Chanyeol continues to fuck Baekhyun so they can only lock lips for so long, Baekhyun limp in pleasure and sliding away from Jongdae. It makes him hold Baekhyun tighter, watching as Chanyeol purposefully keeps Baekhyun’s hips hitched so he can’t grind onto Jongdae.

Baekhyun is nearly incoherent, breathy sounds escaping his lips, body squirming as he tries to fuck back into Chanyeol.

Jongdae knows Chanyeol wants Baekhyun to cum first and decides to lend a hand.

“He’s fucking you so good, isn’t he, hyung?” Jongdae purrs next to Baekhyun’s ear, voice low and husky from his own moans.

Baekhyun cries at Jongdae’s voice and words, tightening his hold around Jongdae desperately.

“Aren’t you going to answer him?” Chanyeol moans, voice deep with pleasure. “We fucked you like you wanted, Baek. Or should I call you hyung too?”

Baekhyun writhes, voice catching on a hitched moan as he completely stills, cumming hard and hot all over Jongdae’s stomach.

Chanyeol groans, hips stuttering before picking up a wild pace Jongdae’s only seldom seen, an indication he’s close to losing all of his precious control.

He fucks until Baekhyun is whimpering in overstimulation before he finally stills, climaxing hard and deep inside Baekhyun.

Jongdae ‘oofs’ as Chanyeol falls on top of Baekhyun, still lodged deep inside. It’s almost nice, the hard weight both his mates on top of him. But he can’t breathe.

Chanyeol pulls out when Jongdae pinches him with a whine. Their vampire chuckles tiredly, shaking arms bulging in an attractive way before he twists and lands beside Jongdae, arm tiredly falling around Baekhyun’s waist.

Jongdae knows from experience that Baekhyun isn’t going anywhere unless Jongdae physically pushes him off. And Jongdae isn’t that cruel.

“Good?” Jongdae asks softly, voice sweet as he rubs the nape of Baekhyun’s neck, playing with the baby hairs there.

“Great,” Baekhyun rasps back. It makes Jongdae and Chanyeol share a smirk at his fucked out voice.

Baekhyun’s already succumbing to his exhaustion, breath slowing down. It makes something fond spark in Jongdae’s chest, feeling the press of Baekhyun’s heart against his own. Their core marks are almost aligned. Jongdae’s only regret is that he can’t send any energy to warm Baekhyun up.

But Chanyeol’s already there, large hand sweeping up Baekhyun’s back to rest on the circle there. Jongdae watches in awe as the core mark glows a beautiful ember, Chanyeol releasing his energy inside Baekhyun.

“Turn over,” Chanyeol whispers softly. It takes a bit of effort to move Baekhyun who makes unhappy noises. Jongdae nearly rolls his eyes as Baekhyun purposefully pitches himself so he is pushing Jongdae into the middle. Once off of Jongdae, Baekhyun scoots in close, a happy leech as he curls around Jongdae, hand holding Chanyeol’s as he places it above Jongdae’s core mark at his navel.

They both pump energy into Jongdae at the same time. Jongdae’s breath hitches as the familiar curl of pleasure runs through him, the new and familiar energies sinking in easily to his hurt core.

Neither of them stops until Jongdae’s squirming, trying to wrestle them away with plaintive whines. Baekhyun giggles tiredly into his neck but Chanyeol is smirking, lips pressed firmly over Jongdae’s pulse.

It reminds Jongdae of earlier on, about the partial conversations they’ve had about Chanyeol’s feeding.

“Whenever you’re ready,” Jongdae whispers softly, face tilted into Chanyeol’s hair, placing a kiss at the crown of his head.

Chanyeol’s breath hitches, immediately catching on to what Jongdae is saying.

But he doesn’t bite, not that Jongdae expected him too.

“We’ve got time,” Baekhyun slurs tiredly, body already heavy with sleep. Jongdae curls his arm around him tighter, until he’s practically back on top of him.

Chanyeol is still clasping Baekhyun’s hand. Jongdae watches as his hold tightens, feels it when Chanyeol’s lips press heavier, sucking Jongdae’s skin in gently to leave a mark. Jongdae bears with the feeling on his oversensitive skin, sighing softly when Chanyeol’s done.

“We have time,” Chanyeol repeats and confirms, shifting so he’s on one forearm looming over them. “I’ve finally got you both. Nothing could make me ever leave either of you again.”

Baekhyun tugs Chanyeol down into a soft kiss. “We’re not letting you go, idiot. I’m not letting either of you go,” he says when they break off, turning to kiss Jongdae.

Jongdae moans into the kiss, barely breaking away from one before Chanyeol tilts his chin to direct Jongdae’s lips to his own.

“Idiots,” Jongdae pants softly when he breaks away from Chanyeol.

Baekhyun pouts at him. "You gotta say it back, Dae!"

Chanyeol playfully nips at his lips when Jongdae makes a show of pressing them together, unwilling to give into their sappy ploy.

"Lov- say you're with us, Jongdae-ya," Chanyeol says, so quickly, Jongdae thinks he might have misheard.

He shakes himself out of it, brought back to the moment by Baekhyun's soft puffs of breath against his sweaty neck, lips pursed against his pulse, and Chanyeol's slightly insecure eyes, the pink of them glinting like gems as he stares at Jongdae intensely.

“You’re both mine," Jongdae concedes, easily. "The world is going to have to try harder to take me away from you both.”

Both Chanyeol and Baekhyun’s grip tightens on him so quickly, they're nearly suffocating him. Despite the discomfort, it makes Jongdae laugh seeing the raging indignation on both their faces. It feels good to outwit both his mischevious mates.

He cuts off either of their righteous declarations with, “I know, I know, 'too soon'. I know you won't let it. Idiots,” he repeats tone fond.

“You need to come up with better pet names,” Baekhyun grumbles. “How am I supposed to differentiate between me and Chanyeol?”

Before Jongdae can tease them both back, they shut him up with two simultaneous kisses, noses nearly smashing against each other as they each kiss the corner of his lips, waylaid by each other. Chanyeol whines, rubbing his nose while Baekhyun grumbles trying to pinch Chanyeol and rub the pain away at the same time.

Well, then.

“Softy and Mushy,” Jongdae giggles fondly, allowing them to tug him as they want him as they settle down for a nap. He feels high off the moment, is happy to be plaint as they both fuss over tucking him in between them.

Chanyeol cradles them close. Jongdae takes a moment to just breathe in their vampire's smell, feel the slow sluggishly beating heart under his skin. It’s surreal to think how weeks ago Jongdae had held Baekhyun like this, whispering a soft prayer into the ether that their third would make Baekhyun happy.

Now, with Chanyeol in their bed, where he belongs, Jongdae can feel how the ice around his heart has almost completely melted. He knows what Chanyeol was trying to say, can feel it in his bones. One day, it'll be as easy to say it back to him as it is natural to say it to Baekhyun.

There is a lot more they need to figure out. But for now, back at home with Baekhyun in his arms and Chanyeol at his back, Jongdae has never felt more complete.

End. 

✧💎⚡🔥✧✧💎⚡🔥✧**GLOSSARY OF TERMS**✧💎⚡🔥✧✧💎⚡🔥✧

**Beasts** \- Mindless creatures; the predators within the Underworld/Dead World/Earth; comparable to animals as they do not possess rational thought and are driven by instinct, primarily hunger. Their intent is often malicious towards humans who they see as their primary prey. They can enter Earth from either of the two other worlds due to random rifts that appear. Otherwise they are summoned. SSDF (Seoul Supernatural Defense Force) fights against Beasts primarily. 

**Core Marks** – Allow you to tap into the power of Earth, typically catering to a specific element. Coremarks also double as soulmarks as those chosen to bear a core mark often have a secondary mark representing their soulmate, who helps balance the flow of energy. 

Humans often bear the mark because they live in such an abundance of energy. However, Underworlders can also possess the mark, even though it is rare. Those that do possess a mark are taken to various Supernatural Defense Force training institutions to learn how to hone and use their mark.

**Dark energy - **(See Dead World) Energy that has been taken from Dead World will often manifest as dark energy, potent raw magic caught between the Underworld and Earth. It often seeps the living energy out of the wielder to make itself stronger. It is the trigger for Demonification.

**Dead World** \- A plane of existence in between the Underworld and Earth, where energy is cultivated and distributed to each world. It’s raw and transformative, no living creature can stay there for too long because they absorb the raw energy and it transforms them. Some humans and Underworlders go there to gain power but it is a double edged sword, one that most often falls on the heads too eager. 

**Demons - **Humans and Underworlders who have gone dark. They have absorbed Dead World energy and as such become powerful creatures that still retain their rationality, marking them apart from Beasts, but often malicious and self serving. They are often incredibly dangerous and powerful.

**Drain **– Overexerting your core’s energy (connection to Earth’s energy). It is like straining a muscle or your heart if you push it too hard. The output of energy should always remain in balance but if used too hard the core will Drain and take anywhere from weeks to years to recover, depending on the strength of the core wielder. 

**Magic - **used interchangeably with ‘energy’ it is a connection to the Earth’s centre where those who have been chosen can create an affinity with nature. Most of these are forms of elemental energy but those powerful enough can learn to do magical things such as fly, create portals, runes and manipulate the magic of others (like Summoners)

**Prince/Royals **\- (See Underworld) - the hierarchy of the Underworld is such that there are seven realms, potent with different types of Underworlders. Under one King, the realms are united under the banner of Underworld. Princes are the second most powerful royal, dubbed so because of their merit, their magic or their heritage. 

**Rifts** – Portals that appear randomly to connect the three worlds together. Higher level beings such as Princes and Demons, and specifically taught SDF agents like Summoners, can purposefully create rifts.

**Runes **\- Briefly mentioned in this part, more to explore in the sequel, runes are mini portals that connect to certain types of magic. It takes heavy skill and deep understanding of the markers that best intake Earth’s energy to achieve a certain goal. For example, BaekChen’s runes that protect them from the raw energy output from Summoning circles. 

**SSDF** – Seoul Supernatural Defense Force. They are the leading supernatural defense force for South Korea and chunks of South East Asia. There are multiple Supernatural Defense Forces across the world. They take in and train anyone with a core mark regardless of Human or Underworlder. Their primary target is to take out Beasts and other supernatural creatures that disrupt the balance between the three worlds.

**Summoners** \- Summoners can manipulate magic and runes for call magical beings to their command. In my headcanon, Summoners are akin to doctors. It's not uncommon to find them, but the truly powerful ones that can summon from higher gates (or right from the underworld) are rare because it requires a lot of power, precision and knowledge of runes and how they react with different magical beings. Summoners are just one type of career those with magical cores can aspire to be. BaekChen are more combatitive, defense force but as mentioned there are people that specialized in Scrying (scouting), Healing, Banishing/Barriers and I am sure I will come up with more as I go along. Most people that have cores end up working for organizations like the SSDF as careers but with proper liscencing you could definitely take your affinity and go into private businesses. Of course there are always cracks and not all children with cores end up with the proper training - more on that in the sequel!

**Underworld/ers - **The world where the supernatural live. Underworlders have an inverted sense of magic where instead of welding it, they _are_ it. Rare Underworlders will have core marks of their own, a sign that they are tethered to Earth’s core. Underworlders can live on Earth but they need runes to be able to absorb the energy Earth pours out that they miss from the Underworld. Underworlders are the ones we most think of – vampires, werewolves, fae, elves, sirens, incubi etc.

**Author's Note:**

> And that's the end!!!!
> 
> Please don't hesitate to ask me questions, if you have any ;)
> 
> Again, thank you so much to the Mods for hosting and everyone who cheered me on along the way! 
> 
> If the way I title my fic didn't give me away, you don't read my fics often :'D I hope I was able to surprise some people with my efforts at plot (terrible paced as it may be?) 
> 
> If you enjoyed, please hit the kudo button and drop me a line to tell me how you felt! I respond to all comments because I really enjoy talking to people about what I write!
> 
> ~~~Thank you all!~~~<3


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